First Daughter
by Justicerocks
Summary: AU. Gabriela Dawson is the daughter of the President of the United States; when she meets Lt. Matt Casey will things in her life start to come together or will the media and other factors keep them apart?
1. Black Tie Awards Gala

**A\N:** So here it is my new story. This first chapter is dedicated to all of my friends on Twitter who encouraged me to write this and who helped me out in writing it.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, NBC or Global.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Matt was half listening to his best friend talk, half looking at a beautiful woman standing far in front of him. He could only see one side of her but she had long curly brown hair and she was wearing a form fitting black dress. He felt as though he'd seen her before but he wasn't sure where. Surely if he'd met her before he'd remember.

"Matt," Kelly Severide waved a hand n front of his face chuckling at his black expression, "Earth to Matt. This Black Tie Gala to boring for you?"

"What?" He snapped back to reality, "No, I was… I was just thinking."

"Yeah," Leslie Shay followed his eye line, "Thinking about her."

"Man," Kelly let out a soft whistle, "She is good looking." The woman then turned around, "She's also the President's daughter. Good luck with that man. No matter what kind of award you're getting you're not going to get anywhere near her."

"That's why she looked so familiar," Matt, said more to himself then his friends, "She's Gabriela Dawson."

"AKA President Jose' Dawson's daughter," Kelly repeated, "So stop staring she probably has security all around her."

Matt rolled his eyes but had to admit his friend had a point, "I'm not staring."

"Sure and Leslie's going to let me kiss her."

"In your dream," Leslie Shay glared at her roommate and best friend, "Not even if I bated that way."

"Oh I don't know about that," Kelly retorted and they started bickering back an fourth, Matt used to this started looking at Gabriela again as she continued greeting guests. Her older brother, a Senator from Illinois Antonio and sister in-law Laura who was hosting the gala greeting extinguished guests as well.

Gabriela walked towards them after a woman whispered something in her ear, "Lieutenant Matthew Casey," She stuck out her hand to him a smile on her face, "I'm Gabriela Dawson. Congratulations on receiving the Public Safety Medal of Valour tonight that's quite an honour.'

"Thank you," Matt shook her hand, "But when I saved those kids I was just doing my job."

"With great cost to your own life," She added, "Still the state would like to recognize you for your dedication to the job."

"Well thank you," Matt smiled, "And I'll make your Senator Dawson knows how much I appreciate it too."

At the mention of her older brother Gabby turned and saw him and got the signal they'd come up with, she turned back to Matt to politely finish the conversation, "Dinner should be serves shortly enjoy the evening and again thank you and congratulations."

"Well," Kelly huffed, "You got close to her but man she reeks of politics."

"Oh," Leslie hushed him; "She's been in the world since she was a teenager. She's a doctor and a good one I might add. She's done some amazing research in paediatrics."

"Yeah," Matt agreed, "I didn't; think she as that bad. Now lets get to out seats." The trio went to their table near the centre of the room and were joined by there co-workers at firehouse fifty-one.

Senator Antonio Dawson walked onto the stage and walked to the microphone, "First of all I want to say thank you to everyone for coming out here tonight," He waited until the applause died down, "Second of all I want say thank you on belief of the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois to all of the first responders here tonight. I know as a former Police Officer that what you do truly matters and you save people's lives'. Dinner will be served shortly but first I want to let you all know how much Chicago means to me. I grew up here and I love this city, my wife was born and raised here as well. I am so honoured that the city of Chicago is being honoured with a first responder's award for valour and courage after that horrible attack two months ago. I am truly thankful to you all and I know another man is as well; so, without further ado I give you President Jose' Dawson," The crowd hushed and then went into a loud applause as the President walked onto the stage. After giving his father a hug and waiting until the clapping simmered Antonio said, "President Dawson has asked to give out the medals later tonight and I couldn't; say no." Some people laughed and then he continued, "But I won't talk anymore please enjoy the food and thank you once again for being here tonight and supporting out first responders," Once again the crowed clapped as he and his father walked off the stage and to the table.

Dinner consisted of steak and potatoes with a salad bar, desert was a buffet and wine was served regularly. After dinner the awards part of the night started and Senator Dawson got up and started to present the awards.

"Two months ago on November 22nd this city went through a day no one will ever forget. More then two thousand people died that day during the attacks that were brought on by terrorists The first responders helped save hundreds of lives and they were able to disarm three bombs that would have caused even more unnecessary deaths. Tonight we are here to honour them as well as a few individuals who went above and beyond the call of duty that day. "

Senator Dawson went on to present awards to some of the federal agents who helped out as well as EMT's and police officers nearly an hour later it was time for the biggest award of the night.

"Now on that day," Senator Dawson waited until the latest honouree had taken their seat before continuing "There was one firefighter who went above and beyond his call of duty. Not only did he save thirty people from the building his firehouse was first called to but helped and assisted civilians while trapped for four hours under rubble, still after that he refused to leave and helped more people out of harms way and alerted police to another confirmed bomb; without his help more people may have dies on that horrible day. It gives me great honour to introduce the President of the United States to present Lieutenant Matthew Casey with the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valour. Antonio took the last award from the table and clapped along with everyone else as his father walked onto the stage.

President Dawson took the award from his son and turned to the microphone, "I don't think there is anything else to say; Lieutenant Casey can you come up here please?"

Taking a deep breath Matt stood from his chair and walked up to the stage, he was aware that all eyes were on him and he wasn't sure he liked it all that much. He jut thought he'd been dong this job and he was as surprised as anyone when he was informed he'd be presented with the award.

"Matthew Casey," President Dawson took the medal out of its case, "Thank you for serving this city," He pinned the medal to his jacket and the room stood in applause for him.

"Thank you Sir," Matt shook his hand, "Really, thank you so much."

"You're welcome Son," He patted his shoulder and shook his hand as photographers took pictures. Matt then went back to his seat holding the medal case.

"Now please feel free to enjoy the desert buffet and some music," President Dawson told the crowd once the clapping had dies down.

"Ooh look at that, Mr. Big Shot," Shay grinned as she looked at Matt's medal, "All the rest of us got was a congratulations. How does it feel?"

"I don't know, lets go and get some food," He looked at Severide who nodded, "You coming Shay?"

"Sure," She shrugged, the three of them just standing up when Gabriela Dawson came walking there way.

"Congratulations again," She offered Matt a smile, "Can I have a dance?" She offered.

Matt's heat skipped a beat, did he just hear her right? "But your father and-"

"Oh its just a dance," She assured him, " She took his hand, the action sending pulses through her veins. She'd never felt like this for any other man before.

"How can I say no?" He walked with her to the dance floor and pulled her close as the slow music started. At first the photographers didn't' notice but as the continued to dance for two songs they started taking pictures.

"Come on," Gabby saw he was getting tense, she took his hand and nodded to a security guard as she led him into a private room, "There," She grinned, "That's better."

"Wow," He looked around the room, it was a smaller conference room but just as beautiful, "You know all of the secret passage ways?" He flirted a little raising an eyebrow.

"My father an brother both held lots of events here so I do know it pretty well," She confirmed."

"Tell me more about yourself," Matt was curious.

"I'm a doctor, I work at a children's hospital in Maryland. I live in D.C. I took some time off thought to help my father run his campaign. I was head of volunteers. I worked with a lot of teens; it made me miss my work. I'm going to really enjoy getting back to my job. Tell me about you?"

"Well like you I love my job, people say I'm good with kids too. _That sounds really stupid._ "One of my best friends has two young sons and I enjoy spending time with them."

 _He likes kids, that's good to know_ "I have two nieces and a nephew and I love them to death," Gabby reached for her phone and pulled up some pictures, "There my brother Antonio's kids. Eva's the oldest she's twelve, Diego's seven and Daniela is four."

"Oh they're cute," Matt smiled looked at the picture, "They mist still be in D.C."

"Yeah with their Nanny." Gabby nodded, "It's not a full-time nanny though," She began to explain like she would in a press conference or to the media, "Laura likes to look after them but she's busy too and sometimes…"

"I understand," Matt touched her hand, "I can't imagine how hard it must be for them, all of those events and traveling with three young kids," He was serious and he hoped she understood that.

"Yeah," She looked up at him and smiled, they somehow moved closer and were inches away when….

"Ms. Dawson," One of the security guards interrupted and hey jumped apart, "Your father is looking for you."

"Come on," She took Matt's hand and led him back out of the room.

"So, you were gone a long time," Severide looked at him as he walked back to there table, "What happened?"

"We almost kissed," He said more out of surprise then anything, "But a security guard jumped in. She's interesting, very attractive, very attractive," He repeated, "But we'll never see each other again so I don't really have to worry about it."

"Man if I met a woman like that…" Severide drifted off as Shay gave him a look.

"That's why I'm not like you Man," Matt rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Come on Sev," Andy Darden leaned across the table, "You don't want to get on his bad side now that he's dating the president's daughter.

"Andrew!" Darden's wife Heather narrowed her eyes and slapped his arm, "You be nice."

"Oh you just got told," Severide started laughing,

"You shut up to Kelly Severide!" Shay slapped him on the back of his head causing Matt to laugh at both of his friends.

* * *

Gabby had seen the pictures in the paper and online and was trying not to say anything as people looked at her as she walked through the hallways of the hospital. Most of the doctor's and nurses knew who she was and were okay with not treating her any different bur she'd been on leave for a little under year and then to come back and have her pictures everywhere was not good.

"You didn't tell me about him when we talked last night!" One of Gabby's best friends' accused her as she walked into the doctor's lounge, "He's pretty good looking."

Gabby sighed, "I danced with him, I was doing my job Gi," She reminded her as she opened up her locker and out away her things, "Besides I made a fool out of myself."

"Why?"

"How much time do we have?" She sighed, "He knew who I was," She closed her locker and leaned agonist it, "And I'm never any good at getting past that. I love who I am and love helping out my father and brother but there's more to me and I felt as though I was just talking in circles with him."

"Oh I'm sure it wasn't that bad," She attempted to cheer her up.

"It was worse."

"Well Chicago's a big city,"

Gabby knew what she was referring to, "I'm not for sure going to get the job," She warned walking out of the lounge with her, "I don't want it just because my father he helped pay for it, you know that."

"I know that," She knew how important it was for her friend to be treated normally, as hard was that was in D.C. even with such a common last name as 'Dawson' "You know anyone who says you don't need to work for anything is wrong. You work twice as hard for things because you need to prove to yourself and to others you really deserve them."

"Thanks," She gave her friend a short nod and then went to see her first patient of the day. After seeing six kids in the E.R. she went up to a children's in-patent ward to do some rounds there. She didn't have patients in hospital yet so she was just helping up her other best friend who was on vacation visiting family in New York.

"You know this food tastes worse then I remember it tasting," Gabby threw out her cafeteria sandwich in disgust, "You want to go out for lunch?" She asked Giselle as they walked out of the cafeteria.

"Sure, so have you checked yet? Did you get the job?"

"No I haven't checked yet and its only been a day. I want them to make an informed decisions not just give I to me."

"But you'd take it though right, you've eared this Gabby. Don't let your pride get in the way."

"I know I've earned it. I just want them to know it too!"

'So look at your phone I can't take it anymore!" Giselle reached for her phone.

"Alright Alright! Stop acting like a child," She laughed at her friend's antics, she checked her email. She found the email sitting near the top and clicked on it, "I GOT THE JOB! HEAD ATTENDING OF CHICAGO CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL."

"Oh my gosh!:" Giselle hugged her tightly, "I'm so proud of you! This calls for a celebration! You're buying!"

"Hey, that doesn't; sound much like a celebration to me," She laughed but followed her friend anyways.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** So, what did you think? Please review and let me know.

 **Up Next:** Gabby returns to Chicago. Will she go and see Matt?


	2. Vist at 51

**A\N:** I am so glad that so many of you like this story. It means so much to me, thank you so much for all of the reads, reviews, favourites and follows. I hipe you all enjoy this second chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, NBC or Global.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Two Months Later:**

Gabby stood outside of Firehouse fifty-one. Wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm she mentally debated whether o not she should go in. It had been two months since the gala. For all she knew Matt had gotten a girlfriend since then. Still though she had to remind herself that he'd been on her mind ever since she officially moved here a month ago.

She liked him, she wasn't blind; he was very good looking. Dating for her though was never easy as something always seemed to go wrong and most of the time she ended up being used for something. She wanted so desperately to be able to be herself but she knew that in public she had t put on an image, She couldn't just be herself, she felt like that on date as well.

Deciding to go for it she walked into the firehouse and out of the cold, the opening and closing of the door causing the men at the table to look up and some to turn to look at her.

"Can I help you?" Kelly Severide stood from his chair. The woman looked familiar an then it hit him, "Gabby right? Are you here to see Matt?" He guessed she probably wouldn't want everyone to know who she was.

"Uh… yeah," She nodded, "Thanks."

"Sure, come on I think he's in his office," Kelly waved his hand and led her back onto the firehouse. "How are you doing?" He made light conversation as they walked into the bunk are and towards the officers offices.

"I'm alright," She saw Matt hunched over a pile of paperwork and figured they'd reached his office, "Thanks," She nodded at Kelly as he turned to leave.

"He's a good guy," He said as he left.

Not wanting to pounder on the comment Gabby knocked on the door and waited for Matt to answer,

"Come in," He looked up from his paperwork; to say he was surprised to see Gabby standing there was an understatement "Gabby," He jumped up to open the door for her.

"Hi," She smiled nervously at him, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

'Oh no just some paperwork, it can wait. How are you?"

"I'm good. I actually got a job as a resident at the new Chicago Children's Hospital. I was able to transfer here; so I'm living here now. I spent most t of my childhood here and I love it."

"Yeah, yeah it's a great city," He nodded as he scratched the back of his neck, "So have you found a place yet?"

"Yeah I found a nice condo," She nodded, "Moving in next week. I start my residency the following week when the hospital opens."

"Oh," Matt nodded, "Well I know you probably already have lots of help moving but if you need any help I could…" _How stupid. She probably has secret service checking the place out and lots of help to move._

"Really? That would be great," She smiled appreciatively, "I still don't know many people in the city. I have one really good friend bur he's scheduled to work that day, he works at Chicago Med in the ER."

"Oh yeah." He looked at her, wondering if this was her way of telling him this guy was her boyfriend. "We deal with the doctor's there a lot. What's his name?"

"Conner Rhodes. We went to school together before I moved."

 _Figures, his father's rich,_ "Yeah I've seen him a few times _._ Anyways if its okay with you I could bring a few of my guys over to your condo on Saturday to help with the move. Do you have a lot of stuff?" _Of course she does. She's rich._

"Quite a bit," She admitted sheepishly. "I'll buy you guys beer and lunch though," She promised, "And I can help too."

"Hey Casey I-" Shay stopped talking as she saw Gabby, "Leslie Shay," She grinned, "I remember you from the gala."

"Shay!" Matt hissed, "Ssh, lets keep it quiet alright. She can just be Gabby here."

"Of course!" Shay grinned, "So Gabby what are you doing back in Chicago?"

"I moved here," Gabby told her still thinking about what Matt did for her. To most people it would seem like such a simple jester but for her it was everything. She didn't; like it when people treated her differently just because of who she was.

"Oh girl that's fantastic! You need to come to my bar,"

"You have a bar?"

"Only the best one in Chicago. Me and a bunch of guys from here own it. Has Matt introduced you to everyone yet?"

"No," Gabby shook her head, "I'd love to meet people though," She looked back at Matt to see if that was okay. "I've never been in a firehouse before."

"I'm a paramedic," Shay told her, "Come on and I'll introduce you to everyone else, the truck guys always hang out in the common area."

"Shay!" Matt looked at her shaking his head, "Maybe another time alright. He figured Gabby was only being polite, There was no way she wanted to see a firehouse surely she had more important things to do.

"Fine," Shay got the message and left his office closing the door.

 _He doesn't want me to meet everyone?_ "Gabby tried to figure out why Matt did what he did She turned to look at him and at his paper work, "Do you still have a lot of work to do?"

"Yeah but like I said I can do it later. Do you want to just sit here and talk? _Talk? About what? She's super smart and I don't know anything about politics or science or medicine."_

"Alright. You like sports?" She asked, "I love hockey and boxing,"

"Yeah," He nodded "I remember reading somewhere that your brother was in Golden Gloves. He almost made it to the Olympics or something."

"He would have but he injured his shoulder and got into Harvard. I was in Silver Gloves when I was sixteen," She told him, "Anyways if you like hockey my brother has box seats," Her palms were sweating and even though she was trying to hide it she knew she was blushing, "He said now that I live here I can go anytime I want. Do you want to come with me? Maybe we can go on Saturday after you help me move in? Your friends can come too if they want to." _Why did I say that? I want it to be a date. If it's a dare though then people will start talking and we'll have to make it official._

"Next Saturday," He squibbed down the date, "Yeah sure that's great," He stood up, "You want to go and meet the guys now? They're really great. And if they say anything t you I'll deal with them alright?"

"I'm used to people saying things about me," She admitted as she walked with him down the hallway, "I've been getting nasty things written about me since I was thirteen and my father first ran for Governor of Illinois,

"Well you shouldn't be," He moved a little closer to her, as if protecting her. They walked into the common room and he cleared his throat, succeeding in getting everyone's attention, "This is my friend Gabby. She's invited us all to a Hawks game in exchange for helping her move into her new condo next Saturday."

"How many seats do you have?" Hermann asked, "Cause' there are a lot of us."

"It's a box so it can hold twenty," She explained she heard the whistles and just as she was sure someone was going to say something when the bell went off and before she knew it she was left alone.

She tried watching TV but she just became stressed out so she made her way into the kitchen to see what they had in terms of food. She was sure she probably needed permission to cook but she began cooking anyways.

Three hours later the guys returned all of them coming into the common area,

"See I told you I smelt something!" Otis said to Cruz, "Gabby right? What re you making?"

"Chicken Parmesan and I'm baking a cake too," She explained, "Hope that's alright.

She got many nods and yells of agreement but she only really cared about Matt, "Of course it's oaky," He told her, "But you really don't have to be doing this."

"I want too," She grinned and turned back to cooking.

"Alright," Matt got chills through his body as she smiled. _She has the most beautiful smile and if cooking makes her this happy then I'm not going to say no._

"Hey Lieutenant," Hermann spoke up, "You still haven't introduced us all to your friend."

"Oh right" He got out of his thoughts and returned back to the present, "Gabby this is Hermann, Mouch, Otis, Cruz, Mills and our candidate Borelli."

"Hi," She smiled at them, "It's nice to meet all of you. I'm glad you guys all made it out of the call okay. My brother-" She stopped earls not wanting to tell them to much about her family in case they figured out who she was. She was pretty sure they already knew but just in case she didn't want them to find out by her telling them. "My brother used to be a police officer, he's in the private sector now."

"Wow," Cruz whistled, "He must make lots of money."

"Yeah," Gabby nodded, "But that's not important," She hoped her excuses wouldn't cause to much suspicion, "Is ten o'clock okay for everyone to come over to help me move?" She grabbed a piece of paper and pen out of her purse and wrote don the address, "Oh and just so you all know some of my brother's friends are going to be there checking everything out, making sure the place is safe." At her father's insistence three plan clothed Secret Service agents were going to be checking over the condo complex and making sure everything was safe.

"Sure," Everyone nodded.

"Great, well I should get going," She stood up to leave, "Dinner's ready and the cake just needs to be take out of the oven."

"I'll walk you out," Matt led her out of the room and back towards her car, "I'm really glad you came," He told her honestly.

"Yeah," She looked at him. She had never really been able to trust anyone growing up as even among her friend at school her family was always the richest and most influential. She was often taken advantage of and she had been as well in some relationships, some that ended very badly and the latest one almost caused her father to loose his bid for the presidency.

"Yeah so I'll see you on Saturday," He smiled as he watched her get into her car and drive off. After watching her for a few seconds he walked back into the firehouse and to his office to finish his paperwork that had been monetarily forgotten about.

"Hey Lieutenant," Hermann jogged down the hall to catch up to him, "Gabby is she… she looked familiar and the thing with the box seats… I remember reading something about that in the paper."

Matt lowered his voice to a mere whisper, "What do you mean Hermann?"

"Is she Gabriela Dawson? The Presidents daughter?" He asked it almost in a way that he was amazed hat it could be true.

"Yeah," Matt nodded his head in conformation, "But keep it to yourself she doesn't want everyone knowing. Have they figured it out yet?" He nodded back to the common room.

"Nah," He shrugged, "Those knuckleheads don't even think she looks familiar. They're just excited about the game."

"Good."

"You really like her don't you," Hermann looked at the younger man. He saw it in his face, he lit up around her, he was happy for him Matt was a good guy and he deserved that.

"She's hard to crack for sure," He avoided the question, "She's had an interesting life."

"She doesn't trust easily but that's understandable," Hermann acknowledged, "Don't worry we'll help keep her safe," He patted him on the shoulder.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\NL:** So, what did you think? Please review and let me know.

 **Up Next:** Matt and the fifty-one guys help Gabby move into her condo. Gabby and Matt get closer but at Hawkes the game people star taking pictures and post them to Social Media. What will happen when Gabby see's them? What will Matt think?


	3. Social Media Problems

**A\N:** Wow! I cannot tell you how much all of you support of this story means to me. I have gotten so many messages of support and encouragement, please keep them coming. I'd like t dedicate this chapter to two of my friends who inspired Gabby's two friends. I hope they and everyone else loves this chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Chicago Fire, NBC Global, the NHL or any of its teams or arenas.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

"Wow," Kelly whistled as he Matt and Shay walked up to Gabby's condo complex, It was a newer building with a modern design and what looked like lots of amenities, "I wish I could live in a place like this.

"Kelly!" Shay slapped him, "Stop treating her like she's some spoiled princess!"

"Well she is," He told her, "No matter how nice she is."

"Just… both of you…" Matt was nervous enough already he didn't need them arguing, "She said to text her and let her know we were here," He looked and saw the moving tuck had already arrived.

"Hi!" Gabby called from the entrance fifteen minutes later; she was wearing yoga pants and a long sleeve shirt, "Thanks again for coming."

"No problem girl," Shay already liked her, she could tell she was feisty and stubborn underneath all of her insecurities, "So this looks like a nice place."

"Yeah," Gabby nodded, "It has a pool and a gym but not much else, I am paying for it though so don't-"

"No one said anything Gabby,' Matt told her, "You don't have to proof anything to us."

"Right," She nodded although she knew he was wrong he always had to prove something to someone.

As they walked into the apartment itself the trio looked around as if they were in a mansion, it was two stories and had a large living area and balcony over looking the city skyline and lake.

"I was thinking we could get the big furniture first," She explained to them, "My bedrooms upstairs and we can put some thing in the spare bedroom and the other one I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing with that. I bought a new TV and it should be delivered soon," She told them.

"That's the others" Mat saw he had received a text message, "We can go and get them and then start unloading the truck," He led the way out of the apartment.

"What room does this go in?" Kelly asked, he and Cruz were carrying the mattress.

"Here," Gabby dropped the boxes she was carrying and sprinted ahead of them up the spiral staircase, "In here," She pointed to one of the bedrooms.

"Wow," Cruz whistled, "A walk in closet and a bathroom. I don't want any of these things and I think you're lucky."

"Thanks I think," She tried to deflect her embarrassment by joking about it.

'All right you two," Shay walked into the room go away now. I'm going to organize everything. I mean," She looked at Gabby "If that's alright with you."

"Of course," She nodded glad that the other woman came in when she did.

"Good now out," She looked at Severide and Cruz.

"And you wonder why I'm the only roommate she can get," Severide good-naturedly ribbed hid best friend as he passed her.

"Oh shut up!" Shay pinched him as he passed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting most of the things in the apartment out together. At three o'clock Gabby told them that she'd meet them at the United Centre an hour before the game started. Everyone said there goodbyes and left leaving only Matt who was putting together her desk.

"You know you can go if you want," Gabby told him as she started to fold down the moving boxes that were empty.

"No, no I want to finish this," He told her, "Plus us being along gives us the chance to talk." He wanted to know more about her. He'd never liked a woman as much as he liked her. It hurt him to know that he'd never have a chance a going out on a date with her.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything,"

"I don't know what there is to tell. Well there is one thing but it's going to sound really stupid."

"No, no tell me," He insisted, he wanting to know anything more about her that would give him more information about her.

"I want to just be normal. I never really had the chance. I'll never regret who I've gotten o meet and the places I've gotten to see, I've loved all of that but… I'm twenty six and I've never really been normal like you are."

"Oh,' He had to admit that did sound a bit strange but he understood what she meant. He figured she would have been always very well protected.

"See," She let out a huge sigh, "I told you it sounds really strange," She got up to answer the door figuring it was the Secret Service Agents telling her everything was all clear.

She'd requested they try to act as invisible as possible and not to approach the people that were helping her move. To her surprise after checking with her father they'd agreed.

"Everything seems good Ms. Dawson," One of them explained to her, "Is there anything else you need? Are you sure you wouldn't like us at the game?"

"No, no its fine. Can I get you anything? Water? I know you can't have beer well on duty."

"No, no thank you," They declined, "Have a good day ma'am," They said and left.

Closing and locking the door again Gabby walked back into the den to see Matt finished with her desk, "Thank you."

"Oh no problem," He smiled, "Anything else you need?

"No, no I'm fine. You can go now if you want."

But he didn't want to go; he was trying to come up with something to say that wouldn't make him look like a complete idiot. When he'd been helping her fi things up at least she'd been appreciative of him and thanked him, he wanted her to see him as more then just a friend.

"Have you ever been to a Hawks game before?" He asked her, _not the smarted thing to say._

"Yeah a few times. I like hockey. Have you?"

"Oh yeah all the time although never in a box before. Not that its wrong I just…"

"No its alright," She assured him, "I want to sit with everyone else to sometimes. I feel bad for my nieces and nephew when they always complain about all of the security they have. My sister in-law is pregnant again. A little boy."

"Ah," Matt nodded glad he'd found something that made her smile, "Family's important to you?"

'Yeah. I love my nieces and nephews and my older brother is great. We're ten years apart but we were really close growing up. Do you have any siblings?"

"An older sister but we don't talk that much. Both really busy and things…."

"Ah I understand,"

"Yeah," Matt really didn't see any reason for him to stay. "I guess I'll see you at the game."

"Yeah," She began to unpack another box as he got up to watch him leave. She was so frustrated with herself. She really liked him; in fact she'd never liked another man as much as she like him but dating him would be incredibly hard hard. He'd be out under so much stress and attention, it would be a channel and she didn't want to ask anyone to go through that.

* * *

"Ah Ms. Dawson," Much to her displeasure a fan representative greeted her as they walked into the VIP entrance of the arena, "I've been asked to be your escort this evening. Are these your guests?"

"Yeah," She nodded.

"Perfect," The young man nodded, "Now just follow me." He led them into a beautiful box suite, "Washrooms are here and I'll bring you all food. What would you like?"

"My treat," Gabby looked at the group. "Get what you ant."

"Oh no," Andy Darden spoke up with a shake of his head, "You've already done enough for us," He said and the others nodded in agreement, "We can get ourselves food."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Shay told her, "Really you've already done enough for us."

"Shay's right," Matt told her.

"Okay," She was grateful that they were willing to not have her pay for everything. She felt comfortable around them even though most of them didn't know who she really was.

"Man I want to do whatever your brother does," Otis said as he looked around the suite, "What was it again?"

"He's in private business," She said, "And believe me you don't want to its almost like he's in politics," She nervously took a seat and waited for he order to be taken. Once it was and the game started the questions mostly stopped and Gabby was grateful for that as social media was saying she was at the game.

She was getting consent Tweets from people asking her questions and so she just muted her phone and tried to enjoy the game. That only lasted until half time.

"Hey," A light seemed to turn on in Cruz's mind as he looked from his phone to Gabby and then back again, "The President's daughter is at the game and her name is Gabriela Dawson too. You're-"

"I should go," Gabby quickly gathered her things and left.

Matt sending Cruz a stare followed her, "Gabby," He tried to keep up, "They won't care."

"Stop!" She turned to face him tears coming down her face, "Stop pretending t be so nice! Everyone cares! Don't you get it! I'm not normal, I'll never be normal!"

"I don't care," He followed her out into the general section of the area. As soon as someone spotted her she was surrounded and people were taking pictures and asking questions.

"Hey!" Matt shouted, "Give her some space alright!"

"Are you her boyfriend?" Someone shouted.

"Gabriela! Gabriela!" Multiple people reached out to grab her and touch her.

"No comment, Gabby tried to get through the crowd but they kept pushing and shoving her.

"She said no comment!" Matt blocked her from the crowd and did so until security came rushing to them and led them back out into the VIP area.

"Ugh," Gabby groaned out in frustration as she began pacing, "See what happens when I wasn't even thinking. You didn't act like my boyfriend you acted like my body guard not that you are my boyfriend or anything

"Hey!" Matt raised his hands, "I get it." He was hurt but he understood. She couldn't; date him.

"How could you when I don't even understand? Just go back and watch the game. I can get back to my car. My father should be calling me soon anyways."

"I hope I didn't; make things worse."

"No, no," She shook her head, "My life can't get any more complicated believe me. You donor want people to run background checks on you just for dating me and I almost ruined things once for my father so he's going to be asking a lot of questions… its just not simple." She wanted to date him so desperately bit she knew it wasn't possible.

"I understand Gabby I'm not upset," That as a lie but he wasn't about to tell her the truth. "Hopefully I'll see you soon," He smiled and walked away.

Fifteen minutes later she got home and only less then an hour after the incident Gabby's phone rang, she answered it accepting it to be her father but got a surprise.

"Hey girl," One o her best friend's Jenna said.

"Oh Jenna! You have no idea hoe goo it is to here from you." She plopped down onto the couch and ran a hand over her face, "I've just had a horrible night,"

"Yeah, we heard, G's her with me. Burt we have a few surprises that we think will make you feel better. We're downstairs waiting for you and we brought pizza and ice cream."

"You're here?" She exclaimed, "But-"

"Just come get us out of the cold and we'll explain! You know how G hates the cold."

"Right!" She jumped up and went downstairs to let her friends in, "So…" She looked at them and even more suspiciously t their luggage, "Unexpected vacation? You know you didn't have to come down here to see me for this."

"No!" Giselle shook her head, "I got a job at the children's hospital too and Jenna got one at Chicago Med.

"Oh my gosh!" She pulled them excitedly into a hug, "That's great!"

"Yeah so we're moving in with you!" Giselle explain smirking, "Figure you wouldn't mind me as a roommate, Jenna maybe because she's so messy and loud but I'm so nice."

"Ha!" Jenna laughed, "You? Quiet? That's funny!"

"Oh you guys," Gabby was never any more grateful to have her best friend's with her. She'd known them both since high school and they wee more like sisters then friends. "But can I tell you about my night?"

"You mean about your bodyguard slash boyfriend?" Giselle asked as they got off the elevator, "It's all over the internet. What did your father say?"

"He hasn't called me yet but it's late in D.C. so hopefully he won't call until tomorrow. And for the record Matt isn't my boyfriend or my bodyguard," She explained as she ked them into the condo.

"Matt? As in the same Matt from the gala? Giselle questioned.

"Maybe," Gabby blushed, "But he's really sweet but I bad to tell him we couldn't date."

"What? Why?"

"Because I can't date him!"

"Why not?" Jenna wondered.

"It's not just him its anyone. My life is so complicated plus he'd need to basically have a background check done on him. I just don't need that right now. Even if you two convinced me to change my minds I already told him it wouldn't work out. He understood. He's really nice actually. Just being around him makes me… and when he was protecting me…" She shook her head, "It's hard to explain."

"All the more reason to tell him you were wrong," Giselle encouraged her.

"I can't! He won't want to n around me.

"So we'll have a party!" Jenna decided, "Invite lots of people that way you can be alone with him without really being alone with him."

Gabby eye her friend as Giselle simply shook her head, "Is this you wanting to help me or an excuse for you to throw a party?"

"It's both!" She frowned good-naturedly at her friend, "It's not a crime to like having parties and fun. Besides it'll be good for all of us I think."

"Uh-huh," Gabby nodded, "Oh by the way there are two rooms upstairs but ones bigger then the other so go and battle it out and I'll make popcorn and watch."

"Giselle can have the bigger room, she had more clothes anyways," Jenna laughed, "She likes shopping and shoes as much as I love parties."

"Not true, but if we're going to have a party lets at last wait until we have more clothes here and all of out things are moved in."

"Agreed," Jenna and Gabby said in unison.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** So, what did you think? Please review and let me know.

 **Up Next:** Matt and Gabby see each other at her party but will anything happen?


	4. The Party

**A\N:** Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing this story. It means so much to me. A special thank to my beta reader who's helping me make this story better with her editing and amazing ideas.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Gabby's kitchen was an absolute disaster, which was ironic considering she and her roommates had spent the majority of the last few days cleaning the rest of the apartment. They'd all been busy moving in and had mostly different schedules at work as well.

"Hey Gabby do you…wow!" Jenna walked into the kitchen and stopped when she saw the mess. "I was going to ask if you needed help but I can see the answer is yes."

Gabby whipped around to face her best friend, "No way! Remember what happened the last time you tried to cook something. You nearly bunt down my condo!"

"Oh right," Jenna nodded, the incident in question had happened only a year ago when they were still living in D.C. "Well is there anything I can do to help? Whatever you're making smells delicious.

"I'm making Bacon and Scallop wraps and a nacho sauce; if you really want to help you can help clean up in about an hour and a half when everything's finished. Then I need to get ready before everyone comes." She wanted to look nice for her guests but the person she really wanted to impress was Matt, even though she'd basically broken up with him; she still very much liked him. She wanted more than anything to date him but she knew, it would be way to complicated.

Gabby's life was anything but simple, especially now. She knew that if she started dating someone the media would go crazy as they had every time she'd been on camera during the election. Her father was the President and so every move she made was scrutinized over. She didn't want to bring Matt into that. Then, if that wasn't enough in just two years her older brother was up for re-election and of course he was starting to campaign for it now. She knew that he was under an impressible amount of pressure being a Senator who's father was the President, she didn't want to do anything that could ruin his chances of re-election, he loved his job and it made him happy. That was really all she wanted was her family do be happy.

"Okay I can do that," Jenna nodded her head, her long brown hair tied up in a simple ponytail. "Giselle's in the shower now and then I'll have one and get ready. I know you're worried about seeing Matt but trust me it'll all work out."

"I don't even know if he'll come." She let out a huge sigh, "I texted him and he said he would but I wouldn't blame him if he doesn't. Now go away so I can finish cooking."

"Right," Jenna nodded and left the kitchen.

The next few hours were relatively uneventful, Gabby finished cooking and she put out the food, while her friends cleaned up a little she got changed.

"Gabby!" Giselle jogged up the stairs. "I just buzzed Matt up

Gabby gasped and as a result got mascara in her eye "Thanks!" She scoffed at Jenna, she rubbed the mascara out of her eye and tried to concordat on getting ready, "Why is he so earlier?" She looked at her watch, "It's only seven o'clock!"

"Hey I don't know," She shrugged, "You look gorgeous by the way! Would you stop stressing out about being perfect."

"I'm far from perfect," Gabby finally got her make-up done and walked down the staircase with her friend. Matt, Kelly and Leslie must've just arrived as they were still looking around the now fully decorated apartment, "Hey," She greeted them not sure whether she should shake their hands or not, "These are my best friends and roommates Giselle and Jenna," She introduced them, "They're doctors too. Can I get you anything? Something to drink? A tour?"

"Ooh a tour sounds good," Leslie spoke up, "I'd love to see it now that it's all furnished. She had ulterior motives though, she wanted to spend some more time with Gabby to see if she'd really misjudged her or not. After Gabby told Matt they couldn't date Matt was visibly devastated and Leslie was furious at her. Although she understood she never liked to see her friends hurt.

"Kelly do you-" Gabby turned to look at the other man to see that he was far too interested in watching Jenna to pay attention. "Or not," She shrugged her shoulders; she looked nervously to Matt who was still standing near the doorway. He was wearing a button-down t-shirt and jeans and he was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Matt!" Leslie walked over to him and whispered something in his ear before dragging him over. "Okay so-" She was jut about to lead them into the den when her cell phone buzzed again and she saw a text saying more people had arrived, "Sorry," She apologized. "You can take a look around yourselves you want to."

"Hey no worries," Shay promised as Gabby went off to let more people into the building. She opened the door to her oldest friend Conner Rhodes. She's known him since they were three years old, "Conner!" She hugged him.

"Hey Gabs," He kissed her on the cheek, seeing right away Matt staring angrily at him, "So glad you're back in Chicago." He looked again at Matt and he hadn't stopped looking at him, he made a mental note to talk to Gabby about that later.

"Thanks," She smiled, "You know Jenna, and this is my other friend Giselle. I think you've met her once or twice at a few of my birthday parties."

"Yeah," Giselle let out a nervous smile, "I think so."

"Good," Gabby was already stressed out and the party hadn't even really begun. "I'm going to go get everyone some drinks. What does everyone want? I can make margaritas. Everyone nodded that they wanted to try that so she nodded and went to go and prepare them. When she was going through her slightly rebellious teenage years she'd discovered she had a real talent for mixing drinks. She didn't get to use her skill as often as she'd like to, so when she had the chance to she did.

"Here let me help." Matt said and he followed her into the kitchen, however he stood back and watched her work. He wasn't really sure what to say to her. He wanted to tell her that he didn't care about anything and that he wanted to date her but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "You look beautiful."

"Oh," Gabby turned to face him, a blush creeping onto her face, "Thanks. I uh- I really…" She didn't know what to say, didn't; know why he even wanted to talk to her after all she'd said it him, "I'm guessing no one else from the firehouse is coming?" She didn't blame them.

"Oh, well Hermann's son has a hockey game and Otis is at Molly's tonight but Cruz should be coming I think. No one's mad at you just concerned and interested. They don't… we don't really understand," As Matt walked closer to her he was getting more and more mixed up with his words.

"That's okay," Gabby turned around to find herself only inches away from Matt's face I-" She stopped. She felt frozen. She didn't know what to say or what to do, "Matt," Without even realizing it she was kissing him. The kiss was magical and her whole body felt like it was on fire, it lasted only a few seconds until Jenna walked in on them.

'Gabby do-" She stopped, blushed and turned around out of the kitchen but Matt and Gabby had already broken apart.

Matt reached out and caressed her cheek, being with her felt right. He'd never felt like this before and he'd never really believed in love at first sight- that was until he'd met Gabby. "You still need help?"

Her heart racing a mile a minute Gabby turned around and continued getting the drinks ready. "I think you've helped enough," She whispered, a smile on her lips, "That was nice though.'

"Yeah," He felt relieved she wasn't going to blow him off again, "It was."

"We can talk later, when things quiet down."

"Of course," He walked out of the room. She was thinking about dating him, maybe the kiss had changed her mind; whatever it was Matt was just glad that it wasn't a 'no' again.

"You know Conner's pretty cute," Gabby walked up to Giselle as she caught her starting at him as he talked to Jenna and other doctor's from Med. "I mean us together its never going to work so if you're afraid of that…"

"Really?" Giselle turned to look at her, "Because if there is then…"

"No. We were pushed together so much as kids that it all backfired; we're better off as friends trust me. He's really sweet underneath that cockiness and that wall he built."

"I like mysteries."

"Yeah I think you said that at the last birthday party of mine he came too," She laughed, "Now you should go and talk to him."

"Only if you go and talk to Matt."

Gabby looked at her and sighed, she looked briefly at Matt who was talking with Kelly, Leslie and Cruz who'd just arrived. Matt gave her a soft smile and she could feel herself blush, "I'll talk to him later after things have calmed down a little."

"Fine," Jenna decided not to push the subject, instead she went off to talk to Giselle.

"So…" Conner Rhodes walked up to Gabby a slight smirk on his face, he crossed his arms and motioned to Matt, "Your boyfriend doesn't like me very much."

Gabby turned and stated at him, "My boy- oh Matt…. He's not my boyfriend. I mean…" She was again blushing and she reached out to hit Conner, "Thanks a lot."

"Hey, hey," He laughed, "I don't want to make you blush Gabby. He's a good guy. He'll treat you right and if he doesn't… if you have a bad relationship again then I'll make sure that he doesn't live."

"I think you'll be last in line," Gabby commented. She bite her lip, "I don't know Conner…." She was worried that the relationship would end in a similar way, after all Alexander didn't seem liked he type to hurt her either. "I want to trust him but I know that I have to be extra careful now.'

"No Gabby," Conner looked at her, "You don't have to worry about your father… he's told you that a bunch of times. Just trust me and everyone else when we say Matt's a really good guy. I should stop talking to you though. If looks could kill I'd be dead," Matt was once again glaring at him, "Mind telling him we're just friends. Us dating would be the worst idea ever."

"Tell him yourself!" She huffed and pushed him forward, "You say you know him so go and talk to him! What are you scared?" She laughed at him. Once she was relaxed again it was quite easy to get into the banter she had with her oldest friend. She'd known Conner since they were three years old.

"No! I'm not scared just…" He shook his head, "I'll talk to him but you talk to him to, he'll believe you, he won't believe me."

"Yeah! Yeah! Just go away alright? I have things to so this is my party after all."

"Right," He kissed her on the cheek and she walked away to talk to other guests.

The party went relatively okay and by midnight most everybody had left. The only people still there were, Gabby, Giselle, Jenna and Matt.

"We can talk now if you want," Gabby finished saying goodbye to the last leaving guests, "That is…." She looked to her friends silently asking them if they were okay to clean up.

"Of course!" Giselle said, "You did most of the work setting up, it's the least we can do! Now go!"

"Alright," Gabby looked at Matt, "We can tall up in my room I guess," She led him up the spiral staircase and down the hall towards her room.

Immediately Matt could tell how much her family meant to her, there were multiple pictures of them in the room and Matt looked at them. Matt liked one especially that had everyone in it "Where was this?" He asked.

"My parents place in the Hamptons last July they like to take a family picture every summer, kind of like a tradition I guess. Gosh, I remember my Dad was so stressed out and…" She stopped realizing that wasn't why they were there, "Sorry, I talk to much sometimes. So, what did you want to talk about?"

Matt realized that now might be his last chance to convince her that they should go out on a date. So, to try and calm his nerves he took a deep breath and said, "Gabby I really like you. I know you might have had problems in the past dating but I promise you I'll do everything I can to protect you. Secret Service can do a background check on me all they want, they won't find anything," He was lying, they would find something, he'd cross that bridge if he got to it though. "I don't care who your family is I just care about you, this woman who obviously loves her family very much and is a great friend and an amazing cook and-" He stopped when Gabby walked up to him and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Alright," She grinned against his lips, "You've convinced me."

Smiling he returned the kiss and he wrapped his arms around her their lips only breaking apart when they needed to come up for air.

"Are you working next Saturday?" Matt asked her gently caressing her face with his hand.

"No," She shook her head slightly shivering underneath his touch.

"Good, I'll pick you up at seven, and dress nice."

"Matt," She looked up at him, "You don't need to take me to some fancy restaurant."

"I know but I want to. That's okay right? You don't need security for that?"

"Yes" She nodded her head, "I have security on me all the time."

"Really?" He hadn't noticed any cars outside of the apartment building coming in.

"Yeah. The ones that were here when you helped me move in, they're pretty nice. There's four of them, they watch me 24\7 in teams of two. Right now I think they're outside the condo," She explained, "I asked my dad to make it seem like they weren't there. I work and I want it to seem like i have a normal life. I mean having security on me at the hospital isn't really piratical...but my father can't take any chances.

"Right- right I understand." He didn't understand but he did;t know what else to say, "So how does clearing it with security work? I mean in terms of where I'm taking you?" He wondered, Did they need to clear the location first? Have a special room? Close down the restaurant. Maybe it would be better for him to take her back to his place. No. He didn't want her to think he was that kind of guy, he wasn't. He knew she wanted to be normal and she should be able to be normal, they;re have to be some way that he could take her out. Some way they it wouldn't end up like ti did at the hockey game. He saw how stressed out she was, he didn't want that to happen again.

"Well they are going to need to check it out and do a security check and the staff is going to have to be selected. Unfortunately I can't just walk into a restaurant," She sighed out, she hated having to tell him all of this, this was one of the reasons she'd been so hesitant in dating him. They couldn't do normal date things.

Sensing her hesitation Matt reached out and lifted her chin so she was looking at him, "That's fine Gabby. I don't want anything to happen to you. How much time do I need to give them? Should I call them first before making the reservation?" He hated asking so many questions when she was clearly stressed out but he needed to know.

"That's probably a good idea. Give me your phone and I'll give you the lead agents number. I'll let them know you'll be contacting them." She took his phone as he handed it to her, "Oh and if you get a phone call from an unlisted number this week it'll probably be my father."

"You're what?" His voice hitched in his throat as he tried not to freak out. "Why..."

"Once I tell my Secret Service Agents to run a background check on you he'll call me for sure. I'll try and stop hm from calling you but he's pretty protective of me. Even if I don't give him your number he has ways of getting it."

"Right," He nodded again. "What-what should I say to him? What should I call him?" When he got told he'd be given an award by the President he was blown away but this... this blew all of that out of the water.

"Just tell him where your taking me and remind him that you're the fire fighter he presented the award to. And don't be nervous," She knew that wasn't easy to say but if he was nervous her father would have more of an effect on him. He'd always interrogated all of her boyfriends when she wad growing up."And you can call him Sir or Mr. President." She explained, "But like I said he might not call you."

"What about your brother?" He blurted out.

"Antonio? You can say anything you want to him," She chuckled and then saw h wasn't laughing, "He's protective of me to but lucky for you his wife is going to have a baby any day now so he has other things on his should be an issue yet."

"Good," He sighed with relief. A part of him was telling him he was crazy for dating her, to many things could go wrong. He didn't care though. "So how long will the security check take?" He realized that if the Secret Service didn't clear him by next Friday he wouldn't be allowed to take her out.

"Two weeks should be fine for a security check; they'll jut run your name through the FBI's, CIA's and all of the other agencies databases. Make sure you're okay." Gabby explained.

"I understand," He kissed her again.

"Thank you," She retuned the kiss, "So…" She awkwardly looked around, not really sue what to do now.

"I should go now," He told her, "I have work tomorrow night but I'll text you throughout the week alright."

"Sure," She smiled as he took her hand and walked down the hallway and back down the stairs. "See you soon," She kissed him again."

"See you later," He responded a he waved to Giselle and Jenna and left.

"So!" Jenna rushed up to her, "You gave him a chance? What happened?"

"I did," She smiled, "He seems alright, I really, really like him too. I mean he stood up for me at the hockey game and was really sweet about everything. We're going out next Friday and he said its okay if the Secret Service runs a background check on him. She said and started to help them clean up from the party.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** Please review and let me know what you thought of the chapter.

 **Up Next:** Will Matt pass the Secret Service security check?


	5. The Explanation

**A\N:** Once again a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'd also like to thank my beta reader for editing this chapter for me.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Gabby was exhausted, she'd worked forty-eight hours straight. Walking slowly into the staff room she unlocked her locker and took off her lab jacket and hung it up. That was when she realized how hungry she was. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten food that didn't come out of a vending machine.

"You want to go get something to eat before going home?" Giselle asked sleepily as she closed her own locker. She too had worked a forty-eight hour shift.

"Sure," Gabby answered as she began listening to the message her father had left her on her phone. Hearing the message though she was furious. She quickly changed out of her scrub pants and into jeans. "I'll take a rain check G," She called over her shoulder as she rushed out.

It was almost ten o'clock when she got to Matt's house; she'd had to convince her secret service agents to get his address for her. She wasn't sure what his schedule was or even if he'd be sleeping or home but she needed to talk to him. She walked up the stairs of his townhouse and rang the doorbell.

Matt had just gotten into bed when he heard the doorbell ring, he was prepared to let it go but he couldn't help the feeling that it was something important. He threw a pair of sweats on and a t-shirt, flicking on the hallway light. He walked to the door and looked through the blinds, it was Gabby; and she didn't look happy. That much he could tell by the dim light the porch light offered.

"Hi Gabby," He opened the door, "Come in, its cold outside," He ushered her inside of the heated house.

"We need to talk," Gabby said, her arms were crossed and she was frowning, "You failed the background check and I know you know why. My father wouldn't tell me, said it would be better if I talked to you."

Matt took a deep breath. His face was sweating and he hadn't been this nervous in a long time. He had to tell her the entire story now, no questions about it. Would she understand? Not many people did, that's why he stopped explaining it. Looking into her eyes he could see how hurt and angry she was and it killed him that he'd causes her son much pain. She probably wouldn't want to see him after this, and he didn't blame her.

"Alright," Matt nodded. "I know I lied to you and I'm sorry but…. It'll be better if I start from the beginning. I got pizza on my way home from shift. Do you want some?"

Gabby followed him into the family room and sat down on the couch, "Sure." Matt walked away and she looked at the few pictures he had in the room. One was a group shot of everyone at fifty-one, the other of he and some friends and only one picture of him as a young child.

"Here you go," Matt, returned handing her a plate and some napkins, "Did you want a beer or something?"

"No, this is fine for now," Gabby said taking a bite out of the pizza, "Thank you. Now explain to me what happened.

"Alright," Matt ran both his hands over his face and let out a huge sigh, "My father… well when I was growing up he wasn't the nicest person in the world. He liked to blame my mother for everything and I mean every little thing. He'd hit her and belittle her at every opportunity. He hit my older sister and I sometimes too but my mother always tried to stop him and she ended up getting a pretty nasty beating. My sister Christie and I are six years apart."

Gabby stopped eating and looked at him, she could tell this wasn't going to be easy for him to say.

"I think she was ten when she started staying with friends, by the time she was twelve she was hardly home. I didn't want my father to hurt my mother so I started to defend her and I ended up in the hospital more times then my father liked. Finally after talking to counsellors my mother got up the nerve to divorce my father, by that time I was fourteen and my older sister was away living in California and never home. My mother and I moved into a small apartment and I got a part time job to help pay for things and everything was looking good until I decided to go see my father. I told him I wanted to go to the fire academy and he laughed at me said only real men could be fire fighters. I was pretty upset when I got home… I still don't know how my mother got a gun. Anyways I was woken up that night by a phone call from the police. My mother had killed my father and she'd been arrested. She claimed it was self-defence but the jury found her guilty of murder and sentenced her to life in jail. That was why I failed the background check, my mother's in jail; and I'm going to be honest with you I visit her when I can.

"Oh Matt," Gabby reached out to pull him into a hug. She wasn't sure what else to say. "I'm so sorry your mother's in jail. Is there anyway she could be paroled?"

"She's always been denied parole. Every time she's up for it my sister comes down from California and speaks against it and she always wins even though I speak for our mother."

"Your sister doesn't think she should be paroled?"

"My sister…" Matt shook his head, "She blames her for killing him… says that she wrecked our family… if she'd divorced him sooner then maybe she could have had a happier childhood. I don't know… we don't speak anymore Christie and I.. I've never even met my nieces. I didn't even know I had any until Christie told me in a huff last year that she had to get back to San Francisco to see her youngest daughter's dance recital. She told me their names and ages just so I'd let her leave."

"Matt," Gabby thought about what she was going to say carefully, "You know none of this is your fault. I'll call my father in the morning and I'll tell him that I still want to date you. He left me a message that said we needed to talk and then I could decide."

"Gabby I don't want to cause any problems for you. What if the media found out?" Matt knew that the media was a problem for her. She wanted to live as simple and anonymous life as possible. Dating him, if the media found out anything of what he just told her it would be a field day. Her father and brother would have to answer a lot of questions on her behalf.

Matt's story was a lot better then what Gabby had been thinking, and in her opinion although Matt's mother shouldn't have killed her husband, it wasn't as though he'd been innocent. A lot of people could relate to that story if the media ever got wind of it. She didn't think they'd care though. Not this year. Maybe in two years when Antonio was re-elected; but that was in two years, a lot could happen in two years.

Gabby moved a little closer to him and pressed her lips against his "I care about you. I really like you,"

"I like you too," Matt said after their lips parted.

Gabby curled her legs underneath her and turned to face him, "I'm sorry I got so upset when I came in. The last relationship I was in ended baldy and he lied to me a lot. I'm just still really sore from it I guess."

"No, no I should have told you," Matt looked at her. "I just wanted a date so badly. You're really pretty," he admitted softly.

"I have no make-up on and I haven't slept in forty-eight hours. I am not pretty," Gabby informed him.

"Yes, you are," Matt leaned in for a kiss and gently lay her back down on the couch, "Let me know if this is too sudden," He looked into her brown eyes, "And be honest."

Breathing heavily Gabby tried to catch her breath, "It's fine," She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

"Are you sure because-"

"Ssh," Gabby silenced him with a kiss.

Matt woke up the next morning to his alarm clock. He rolled over to turn it off and then snuggled back into Gabby. "Good morning," He placed a soft kiss on her bare shoulder. He couldn't stop grinning; he had no idea how he was going to get through his construction job today when all he wanted to do was make love to her again.

"It's six o'clock," She replied sleepily, "Why did your alarm go off?"

"I have a construction job to go to today," He responded, "Go back to sleep. You can stay here as long as you want today. Or you can leave I-"

Gabby flipped over onto her side and kissed him, "Right now I want to stay here with you," She rolled them over so she was on top of him. She lay down and began kissing him while her hands caressed his bare chest.

"Gabby…" He moaned out her name as her hands got so close to where he needed them to be, "I really have to go and have a shower and leave." He regretfully told her. He'd love nothing more than to stay in bed with her all day.

She kissed him and rolled off of him, pouting playfully, "You owe me."

"Fine," He gave her a kiss and climbed out of bed walking to his closet to find something to wear.

Stretching Gabby sat up and yawned, "You want me to make you something for breakfast?"

Matt turned to look at her, "No, no you go back to sleep."

She stood up and found her clothes from the previous night, "No, no I'm up now. What do you want?" She stood and watched him for a few seconds. He was completely naked and she loved the view. Last night had been absolutely amazing. It was as if their bodies were made for each other. That kind of thought scared her though. How could she feel so much for this man when she'd hardly known him at all?

"Anything you make will be fine," Matt assured her. "And you're sure?"

"Yeah," Gabby nodded her head. She got changed quickly into her clothes, "If you find a ponytail on the ground let me know. I like my hair up," She walked towards the door, "I might make pancakes. They're quick and easy. I know you don't have a lot of time. Do you have pancake mix?"

"I think so. That's one thing I know how to make." Matt grabbed his clothes and walked out of the room and towards the washroom; He had a quick shower and got changed. Walking out of the washroom he was greeted by the smell of pancakes. He was walking towards the kitchen when the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" He called out, he looked out to see three black SUV's parked outside and with a frown he opened the door, "Hello?" He tried to hide his panic stricken face when he came face to face with Senator Antonio Dawson, Gabby's older brother.

"Matthew Casey?" He lowered his sunglasses and tucked them into his jacket pocket, "Can I come in?" He peered his head into the house as if he was looking for something.

"Yes…yes sir," He stepped aside, Antonio nodded to his advisors and security guards and went inside the house.

"So I was going to come here to yell at you," His voice increased and he smirked, "But I saw a black car parked down the street and it looks just like the one that Gabby's Secret Service Agents drive, has a government sticker and everything. It's really weird too because I know if she was here she'd come and say hi!"

"Shut up," Gabby entered the room and glared at him. She walked over t him and hit him. She was annoyed with her older brother but she could never be really angry with him. "You know I'm not a little kid anymore you don't need to fight my battles for me. We talked things out last night." She told him matter of factly.

"Is talking all you did?" He inquired. Looking between the two he had no doubt in his mind that they did more than talk. For that he wanted to knock some sense into Gabby but she seemed so happy and after her last relationship she needed someone who treated her right. Everything he'd found out about Matthew Casey told him that he was that man.

"Antonio Dawson!" She smacked the back of his head. "That is none of your business. "What are you doing here when Laura's nine months pregnant anyways?"

"If you'd stop hurting me…" He rubbed his shoulder with a smirk, "I had an emergency meeting in Springfield I had to attend. I'm flying back to D.C. now but Dad called me last night and told me Matt didn't pass the clearance and asked if I'd check on you."

'So you decided to come and beat him up instead?" She eyed him angrily, "Were you planning on telling him you won Golden Gloves two times? "She asked him again crossing her arms, "He wouldn't stand a chance against you."

"I may have been planning on mentioning it," Antonio turned to Matt who thus far had just been watching. "No offense, but I don't like it when people hurt my baby sister."

"Go!" She pointed to the door, "I know the stupid plane waits for you but…." She shook her head, "But I can make a call and tell them to take off without you! Make you miss your meeting. I have connections too." She pointed her finger at him. "I'm fine, we're fine. Go and tell Dad that."

"You want me to tell Pop you were here this morning?" He raised an eyebrow, "You really think that's what you want him to know.

"Oh you know what I mean," She pushed him towards the door, "I'll call him later. You just get back to D.C. and tell Laura and the kids I look forward to seeing them at Easter. And say hi to Stella and everyone else too."

"Will do," He fist bumped her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Bye Matt, do anything to hurt her and I'll kill you," He warned and with that he left.

Matt stood frozen, he was a little shocked as to what had just happened, "Well that was interesting.'

Gabby shook her head, "I'm really sorry about him. I love him and he means well but…"

Matt walked towards her and kissed her, "It's okay. I don't blame him for wanting to protect you," He caressed her cheek. He wanted to ask her about her ex-boyfriend, find out what he had done to her. He knew though that it would cause her too much pain. Whatever it was it must have been pretty bad. Right now all he wanted to do was get her to trust him then maybe when she was ready she'd tell him about it.

"He's an idiot but I love him," Gabby chuckled, "You're neighbours must be having a field day by the way. By security parked outside all night and then Antonio comes here with three government plate SUV's…. in my experience things like that don't go over well in the burbs."

"Don't worry about that," Matt knew some o f his neighbours but didn't know what others would do. He didn't want anything bad to happen to Gabby although he guessed with four secret service agents she was pretty safe, "You don't have to stay here today if you don't want to."

"No, no it's fine," Gabby took his hand and led him into the kitchen, "Let's eat before the pancakes get cold. When do you have to leave?"

Mat looked at his watch and saw that it was already eight. "Pretty soon but I have time to eat something. So is Stella your sister?" He asked curiously.

"Cousin, actually," Gabby nodded her head and she gave him two pancakes, "She and her twin brother Rafael are only a day younger then Antonio. Stella's a Senator from Illinois; Rafael's a Senator from New York. Their father's Sectary of State.

"Okay," Matt shook his head, "Any other cousins or aunts and uncles I should know about?" He racked his brain trying to remember what he'd leant about during the election. To be honest though he'd stopped caring before it really began as it had been going on for two years with all of the primaries and everything.

"I have a cousin who works for the NSA. Other than that nothing really interesting." She began eating her own pancakes, "Do you mind if I go grocery shopping for you? You don't really have anything other then take-out."

"Sure," Matt wondered if she was allowed to go grocery shopping but chose not to ask in case it got her upset.

"Great," She smiled as she looked at him, "I can go grocery shopping if I want to. Okay so I have to give a list and I can't really go," She relented, "But…."

"It doesn't matter," Matt leaned forward and kissed her, "Can you go to Molly's with me tonight? You'll be safe there I promise. No better place for you. It's filled with cops, firefighters and doctors. In fact, I think some of your colleagues are starting to come. I know the Docs from Med go all the time."

"Yeah my friend Jenna mentioned it to me, said Leslie Shay's been wanting me to go."

Matt laughed, "Yeah she's been bugging me to bring you."

"Okay," Gabby nodded, "I think I can do that."

"Good," Matt began to eat the pancakes, "And if you can't, don't worry about groceries. I don't want you to get into an argument with your secret service agents."

"Oh it'll be fine," Gabby told him, "I need to get out and do something on days I'm not working. I think going grocery shopping is better than me going to the mall and spending money. There isn't really anything I need."

Matt was shocked to hear her talk about shopping like that. He knew money wasn't a problem for her and she could afford to wear nice clothes and shop at the most expensive stores. Yet her style he'd noticed was more laid back and casual and she talked about shopping like any normal woman would. She really was something special.

At nine thirty that night Matt and Gabby walked into Molly's; Matt's hand was on her lower back and he led her towards the bar counter. She looked around at everyone and sensed conversation stopping as people recognized her.

"Matt," She shook her head and sighed, "I don't know about this."

Matt pulled her into him, "It's alright Gabby," He whispered into her ear. He then turned to look at everyone, "Nothing to see here!" He shouted. After a few seconds everyone went back to talking and Gabby and Matt sat down at the bar.

"You finally brought her!" Leslie Shay ran over to them excitedly, "Gabby it so nice to see you again. What can I get you?"

"Its nice to see you too," She smiled at the other woman, "And a beer is fine," She tried to relax but she could still feel some eyes on her and she wondered yet again if this was a bad idea.

"Two beers coming up." Shay turned and got them their drinks from the bar and placed them on the table before attending to other customers.

"Gabby," Conner Rhodes walked up to her, "So glad you finally came here," He kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey Conner," She sighed a little happier seeing her friend, "Is Jenna here too? I haven't been home all day."

"Hey girl!" Jenna ran up to her and pulled her into a hug, "We need to talk!" She winked at her knowingly and grabbed her beer before she could say no, "Giselle's coming too right?"

"Yeah she should be here soon," Gabby told her, "I came here with Matt but she texted and said she was on her way."

"Good!" Jenna pulled her off to a table, "Shay you coming too?"

"Go to the end of the bar," Shay told her, "Then I can join in on the fun too."

"Ugh," Gabby groaned, she knew she was going to be interrogated about what had happened the previous night and about her day, "There isn't anything to tell."

Matt smiled as he watched Gabby go with her friends; he loves seeing her smile and was so glad that she felt more relaxed here now.

"You know," Conner Rhodes snapped him out of his thought as he spoke, "Gabby and I are just good friends. She's like my twin sister we could never date."

Matt took a sip of his beer and turned his head to the other man, "Yeah Gabby mentioned something about that. You grew up together?"

"Yeah, our families are really good friends."

Matt nodded, "I met her brother Antonio today," He mentioned, "He came to talk to me. I didn't pass the security check right away but I guess Gabby talked to her father."

Conner laughed. "Antonio's like that but he means well and he and Gabby get along great. If you can't manage him you'll never be able to meet her father."

Matt's eyes opened wide, "Her father isn't coming to the city soon is he?"

"No but he's the President and he can go wherever he wants whenever he wants," He reminded him, "I just mean that I see the way Gabby lights up around you and I've been here though all of her other boyfriends. She's never lit up like that before. You hurt her and they'll be a lot of people angry with you. She deserves the world."

"And I want to give it to her," Matt answered honestly. He felt the same way about Gabby, he'd never thought about any woman as much as he thought about Gabby and it was killing him that they were in the same room but not touching. Seeing her smile and laugh though made it tolerable. He knew though that soon he'd want to leave and go back to his place to have a repeat of the previous night's events.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** So, I decided to leave some things the same in terms of Matt's past on the show but add in a few of my own details. I hope you liked the chapter, please leave a review, it would really mean a lot to me.

 **Up Next:** Matt and Gabby have their first official date, and Matt gets a sense of the media's obsession with Gabby and her family.


	6. The Newspaper Article

**A\N:** Thank you so much to all of you for reading and reviewing this story. Please keep on reviewing as they really do make my day and I love getting them. As always a extra special thank you to my beta reader for editing this chapter for me.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Gabby was lived.

She'd only just found out about it and she woke up to it being all over the front page, of Chicago's newspaper. " _The New Kennedy's"_ , Gabby _wasn't_ impressed. She'd spent a good part of her life being in the newspapers and on the news. She'd been followed home from school, had reporters capture pictures of her on dates and had even been hassled at work, but this, _this was the worst ever._ Almost none of the article was true. And, what bugged her most was how they'd managed to find out when it had only just happened.

Yesterday afternoon she'd received a call from Antonio, saying that Laura had gone into labour. She woke up at two o'clock in the morning to a text message and a picture. Santiago Andres Dawson had been born close to midnight. He was gorgeous with fine dark hair and dark caramel skin. According to Antonio it had been a relatively easy labour, not as fast as Diego's and certainly not as long and difficult as Eva's. Laura had been in labour with Eva for seventy-two hours total. Gabby had been in the hospital, and sometimes in the room during those three days and it was those memories that fed her own fears of having children herself some day.

After sleeping for another hour, Gabby had gotten out of bed. She'd gotten changed, had a shower and put on some coffee when she'd seen the headline online.

 _Are the Dawson's the New Kennedy's?_

 _An inside look at the political family dynasty_

She'd choked on air, blood boiling through her veins. Her fists clenching as she held the IPad and pulled up the link. Knowing she'd really be angry reading the entire article, she only skimmed it. She could tell they'd taken bits and pieces of her father's, brother's and even cousin's interviews throughout the presidential campaign. The article was four pages long, the online version having digital links to accompanying videos and even a timeline outlining Antonio's political career. The article seemed to suggest that Antonio had plans to run for President in ten years and that he'd even run against one of his cousins for the party nomination.

This wasn't true. Antonio had talked about it but he knew he still had a lot to learn; he needed to be on more committees and know more people before that was even a possibility. And he'd _never, ever_ go up against Stella, who was like a sister to him or Rafael, who was his best friend as close as a brother.

The article had then gone on to talk about the family's past and their connections to Chicago. This, Gabby was okay with, her brother and father had both been Chicago police officers, her father born and raised in Chicago, Antonio living here until he was eight. The city of Chicago had always been welcoming to them and very nice, which they had always appreciated. Antonio even spent a lot of his time at his and Laura's house in Chicago, which had once belonged to her parents.

But what had made Gabby the most irked, was that at the end of the article they'd mentioned Santiago being born and that maybe he'd be President in fifty years or so.

Now she was sitting in a doctor's lounge waiting; and she didn't have to wait long.

Giselle had just worked a busy twelve-hour shift in the ER; she however had enough time to read the article in the paper this morning and everyone was talking about it.

"So, you saw it?" She walked into the doctor's lounge, motioning to a copy of the paper on the coffee table. She poured herself some coffee and went to sit down beside her friend.

"Uh-huh," Gabby responded running both hands over her face in an effort to calm herself down, it didn't work. "I know it sounds silly to complain…" She'd found most people she met to be unsympathetic to her, they though that just like celebrity's politicians had public jobs and they should expect to be in the spotlight. That was true in some aspect she supposed, but she wasn't a politician and she hated seeing slander about her family.

"Congratulations on the birth of your nephew," Giselle said, unsure of what else to say. Even after being her best friend for all of these years sometimes she felt like she didn't know her at all. So she decided to try and get her to talk about something that she knew she'd be excited about.

"Yeah," Gabby smiled a little. "Want to see a picture? He's really cute."

"Always," Giselle leaned over to look at the phone. "Oh he's precious. How come your entire family has good genes?" She enquired, in an effort to cheer her friend up but it wasn't working.

Despite being upset Gabby chuckled, "Not including Antonio?"

"Sure," Giselle rolled her eyes and laughed along.

"I just can't believe the newspaper printed all of that!" She shook her head, "I mean, the stuff on my brother and dad growing up in Chicago I can understand but the birth announcement and…."

"And the stuff about you," Giselle guessed. "Yeah that was uncalled for."

"What?" Gabby turned her head to look at her friend, "What stuff about me?" She hadn't seen anything about her in the online version and she had no intention to read the printed version. Now she wanted to though, if they had said anything about her she wanted to know what it was. "Giselle," She narrowed her eyes and took the paper, flipping through all of the pages and scanning for her name.

Finally, on the final page of the special article on her family was a paragraph about her. It said she was twenty-seven years old and explained she was Senator Antonio Dawson's younger sister and President Dawson's daughter. It mentioned she'd worked on both of their campaigns. But, what made her see the most red was the fact that it mentioned she'd taken a residency job at the new Chicago Children's Hospital; the hospital her family had helped to pay for, as the article also mentioned.

She was a good doctor and when she'd applied for the position she'd made her father and brother promise to stay out of it. She wanted to earn that position on her own, the last thing she needed was the public thinking she'd gotten it just because of her name, she already spent enough time doing that.

"Oh…" Gabby shook her head, anger running through her veins. She couldn't remember a time that she was so angry. "They had no right to do that!"

Giselle pulled her into a hug, "No they didn't. And you know you got this job because of you. You're a great doctor, and you're great with the kids here. They'd have been stupid not to hire you. As for the article, no one's going to pay any attention to anything they said, especially if they've seen you work. This is Chicago not D.C. you're not going to have anyone attack you here alright?"

Gabby unclenched her fists and moved them up to her hair, she'd been running her fingers through it so much it had gotten tangled, "I just… I keep thinking that even if they didn't; say anything that maybe I am here because of my father and brother; that's not right. I want to be my own person and that's not going to happen if they keep running articles like this."

Again, Giselle was unsure of what best to say to her friend, no one would ever know why she got the job, they could only hope that it was because of her skills although she had no doubt that it was. "I bet very few people even read that far…. And not because your family isn't interesting just because it's so long and people are to busy."

Gabby took another deep breath and stood up, "I have to go and make myself look presentable." She grabbed her purse, "Thanks for talking with me, go home and get some sleep alright, you look like hell."

Standing up and walking out with her friend, Giselle chuckled, "Gee thanks."

"Always." Gabby called over her shoulder as she turned in the opposite direction.

* * *

Four hours into Gabby's shift Matt stood by the nurses' station and watched Gabby talk to a small boy. He was connected to a breathing machine and appeared to have other tubes in him as well; he did not look healthy at all. Sadly, Matt expected that, as this was the Pediatric Critical Care Unit. The boy's parents handed him a toy fire truck, his eyes lighting up as he took it and began to play. A nurse watched over him as Gabby led his parents outside.

Matt was to far away to hear what Gabby was telling them but the woman let out a loud scream and almost fell to the ground, Gabby pulled her into her arms and hugged her. Saying something and else Gabby gently passed the woman over to her husband and walked away.

Telling parents their child was dying wasn't something Gabby hoped she never got used to doing.

"Matt," Gabby looked up from the chart she was carrying to see him, she whipped tears away from her eyes and walked towards him, "What are you doing here?"

He pulled the flowers he'd gotten for her out from behind his back, "I figured you'd need something to make you smile." He'd read the paper in the morning like he always did, as soon as he saw the article on her family he knew he should come and see her.

Gabby took the flowers, smiling she leaned in to give him a kiss on the lips, "They're beautiful, thank you."

"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman"

Gabby eyed him, was that a line? She didn't think of him to be that kind of man. "How long did it take you to come up with that?"

Matt hadn't realized how it'd come across until she'd ask, "I didn't mean it like-"

She placed a finger on his lips, "I know. You don't need to use those lines with me, I like you enough already." Seeing they were gaining lots of attention she took his hand and led him into the doctor's lounge.

Looking around the room for a second, Matt turned to Gabby, she was putting the flowers in a vase, "That boy…."

Gabby took a deep breath, "He's dying." She knew she couldn't get invested in all of the children she treated and usually she was pretty good, but there was something special about his boy. She'd considered telling her advisor, an attending doctor on the floor, that she had to step down but that wouldn't look good, especially if she wanted an attending position at the hospital next year.

"I'm sorry. Have you been treating him for long?" Matt moved to her and put a hand on her back. He was affected by children he pulled from fires so he understood her pain and sadness.

"His parents brought him in with a high fever to the ER last night. It turns out he has a rare genetic disease. He probably won't make it a month." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, "He's almost three."

Matt closed his eyes and when he opened them he had tears, "That's awful." He hated it when anyone got sick, it seemed only worse when it was young children, "I saw him with a fire truck. Maybe I could go in and see him."

Gabby turned around to face him. The child, Benjamin loved everything to do about fire fighters, at only three years old he was determined he was going to be one when he was older, he didn't understand that he was dying. "You don't have to do that Matt."

"I want to. Is it okay with his parents?" Matt wasn't sure if the boy could have many visitors or if the parents just wanted family in for his last days or weeks.

"I can ask them but I'm sure it would be okay. I just… I had to tell them just now that he only has less than two months left to live; his body is shutting down and all of the medication in the world can't stop all of his pain." She squeezed the counter she was leaning on, "I love my job, I really do but sometimes I just wish that children couldn't die."

"I agree," Matt pulled her into his arms and turned her around. He wipped tears away from her eyes, "I'm sure a lot of people do."

Gabby saw the clock and realized she needed to get back to work soon, "I have patients to see and I have to write up reports." She moved to the computer and sat down, putting in her login information.

"I just wanted to come and make sure you're okay, I saw the paper," Matt said finally able to state the reason for his visit. "Figured you might want to talk about it. And where do you want to go for dinner on Friday?" He inquired.

"I'm okay about the article now." She continued to type on the computer, "But," She turned around to face him, "Do you think I could make us dinner at my condo? I really want us to have a good first date and if we go to a restaurant it'll be a hassle for everyone. I think that it would be better if we just had a nice dinner at my place."

"Sure," Matt nodded, he knew that Gabby didn't like to be recognized as she liked her privacy. "What time did you want me to come over?"

"Around five maybe; I'll make sure Giselle goes to Molly's or something for the night, and Jenna's working so she'll be okay," Gabby began to ramble, something she did when she got nervous, and being around Matt definitely made her nervous.

"Sure, sounds good," Matt nodded. "Did you want me to bring anything? Some wine maybe?"

"No, no just bring you," she stood from her chair, walked over to him and gave him a kiss. "Thanks for bringing me the flowers. Now go. I need to finish writing up these patients notes for my attending advisor to see." She waved him away, her smile telling him she wasn't really angry.

"Okay, okay," Matt nodded and left the doctor's lounge.

* * *

His truck parked in the visitor's parking, Matt took a few breaths, trying to control his nerves. He was ten minutes early for his date with Gabby and he was worried. Sure, they'd already slept together once, and Matt would gladly do it again, but this was different. It was their first official date. He rubbed his sweaty hands on the steering wheel and ensured his voice was okay. Sometimes with Gabby, Matt had found that his brain decided not to send signals to his voice box, so he was left standing there like an idiot, he wanted to ensure that didn't happen tonight.

Finally getting up the courage to get out of his truck Matt picked up the flowers he'd gotten her and got out. Locking his car he saw a light, as it got closer he realized it was someone carrying a flashlight and walking towards him. Frozen, Matt was unsure what to do.

"Mr. Casey!" The person holding the flashlight shouted out to him. "Secret Service." He thought he'd already been cleared but he wasn't about to run away or not reply. When the agent was close enough to see him he spoke again, "My names Agent DeGrazzi. I'm the agent in charge of Gabriela Dawson's Secret Service Security detail. I wanted to introduce myself."

"Matthew Casey, it's very nice to meet you sir," Matt stuck out his hand. Now that he had a good look at the man he saw that he was probably in his early fifties, he was still in good shape though and Matt wouldn't want to do anything to make him angry; especially since Matt could see the gun holstered to his hip.

Agent Degrazzi studied him, looking him up and down before saying; "I've known Gabriela since she was just a little girl. She's like a daughter to me and I'd do anything to protect her, even take a bullet for her, and not just because it's my job. If you hurt her, I can tell you right now you'll be in a lot of pain," he threatened.

Matt nodded his head, "I really like Gabby," he told him after catching his breath, "And I don't intend on hurting her, Sir."

"Good," He nodded and then waved his hand indicating for Matt to pass him. Matt did so and he called Gabby so she could buzz him up.

As Matt got off the elevator on the fourteenth floor, Gabby was waiting at the door of her condo. She was wearing a black, form fitting dress, which showed off cleavage, much to Matt's delight.

"You look…" Matt took his time eying her up and down. He'd already broken his promise to himself; he wasn't able to say anything. He'd never seen a woman look as sexy in a piece of clothing as Gabby did in that dress. "Here," He handed over the flowers.

"Thanks," Gabby smelled them; "These will make a great centrepiece for dinner tonight." Taking his hand and pulling him into her condo, Gabby grinned, she had been hoping for that reaction, " And thanks. You look nice too." She wondered how long it would take her to undo the buttons on his dress shirt. "Dinner's almost ready. Do you want something to drink?"

Matt took off his shoes and hung up his coat, "Whatever you're making smells delicious," He complimented her, "You must be an excellent chef."

She blushed as red as a tomato, "Thanks. I do need to go back into the kitchen but you can explore if you want."

The main level of the condo had four rooms. The small entranceway, which Matt was in, led into the living area, to the left was the gourmet style kitchen and a dining area. Walking past the living area would lead you to a balcony that overlooked downtown Chicago and a great skyline as well. Past the living area was a powder room and a study.

Remembering he he had helped Gabby put together the bookcases in the study, Matt headed there. The room, painted a faded green colour, was a square shape. Two bookcases sat opposite each other on the walls. In the centre of the room was a small couch and two chairs facing a small desk.

There were many pictures on the wall and Matt smiled at some of them, one in particular caught his eye. The picture was of a teenage Gabby holding two young girls in matching outfits. Due to the similar facial features on Gabby and the girls faces Matt guessed that one of them must a niece and the other maybe a cousin. Through Gabby's eyes and smile Matt could see that she was enjoying being with the girls and not taking the picture only because she had to. He imagined she was great with her nieces and nephews and any other children in her family. He couldn't wait until he saw her with then.

"Dinner's almost ready now," Gabby called from the hallway. Matt turned and followed her into the dining area.

"What did you make?"

"It's called paella. It's a dish from Spain originally but they make it in the Dominican Republic too," she explained as she walked into the kitchen briefly to serve them each some. "Help yourself to some salad," she called to him.

From the table place mats to the forks and spoons everything was perfect on the table; this only confirmed Matt's suspicion that she'd been raised with pristine table manners.

"So, is that where your family is from? The Dominican," Matt asked as Gabby handed him his plate and then settled into the seat beside his.

"My mother's family is from Spain originally but they emigrated to the Dominican when my mother was a baby. My father's American, he and my mother met when they were at University in Chicago, my mother was on scholarship for medicine."

"Ah, so I see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Matt quipped, he desperately wanted to know more about her but didn't know what would be okay to ask. To cover up his nervousness he took a bite of food.

"Gabby," He swallowed and grinned, "This has to be the best food I've ever tasted. You're an amazing cook."

"Thanks. I can assure you though that my mother is better than I am and so is my sister in-law, Laura. Laura owns a bakery here in Chicago actually."

"Really? I never knew that." Matt took a sip of the drink Gabby had made for him.

"Yeah, a lot of people don't, it's better that way." Seeing Matt's confused look she elaborated, "If people knew she owned it they'd be protesting outside it and causing a fuss. This way, if she owns it under her maiden name and hires people she trusts and knows to run it for her, it works."

"That makes sense," Matt nodded. The more he thought about it the more he realized that there must be a lot of things that Gabby and her family must have to keep hidden from the public.

Gabby didn't usually like talking about her family but she could tell Matt was genuinely interested and so, for once she decided to tell him more, "Antonio has an anaphylactic allergy to shellfish, so his security is very strict about what food he eats and where it comes from. Especially now that our father's President, if he even tastes in he could die."

Matt could see the look of fear in her eyes when she talked about it. Her brother or father being killed or hurt was something she worried deeply about, he could tell. It made him angry that she had to worry about something like that. It baffled his mind that a human being could kill another human being.

"And my father and brother both love boxing," She continued trying not to think about anything bad happening to her brother or father. "That's why my father first got into politics actually. Before I was born, when Antonio was two or three he and my parents lived in a really rough part of the city. There was this boxing club that a man owned and helped keep boys off the streets through boxing. Well, the gangs didn't like that very much. So one day a gang decided to raid the place, they killed the man and everyone there, fifteen people died, thirteen of them were teenagers. After that my father really wanted to change things, he ran for an Alderman seat and won. After that he become Governor and then well the rest is history."

"Wow," Matt breathed out, "I never knew that." He wondered why someone hadn't made that into a story during the campaign.

"He doesn't like to talk about it much. The club is state of art now though and he still goes there every anniversary of the shooting. Boxing is his and Antonio's favourite sport. Antonio was actually in semi- competitive boxing, he won the Chicago Golden Gloves competition two years in a row.

"Wow," A part of Matt was now even more nervous about not doing anything to hurt her. Deciding it would be good to change the subject he mentioned, "I saw a picture of you as a teenager holding two young girls. Is one of them your niece?"

It took Gabby a second or two to remember the picture, when she did she smiled, "Yeah, one of them is Eva, the other one is Madeline, my cousin Stella's daughter. Eva and Maddie are only a few weeks apart, they're inseparable. They're twelve now."

"Second cousins," Matt concluded, "Are they the oldest?"

"No, I have a thirteen year old second cousin named Sara, she's the oldest in that generation. My youngest first cousin is eighteen, her name is Rebecca. They are on my father's side. My mother's is more complicated."

"Ah," Matt nodded, "My family isn't that complicated, actually, firehouse fifty-one is honestly more like my family than anything else."

Gabby couldn't; help but feel a little bad for him; she loved her large family and even though she sometimes found them to be annoying and hard to handle, at the end of the day she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Tell me if this is none of my business, but is there anyway you can get in touch with your sister?"

"No, I've tried multiple times. She never responds. Short of going to San Francisco and showing up at her house I'm not sure what else to do. She doesn't want me in her life of her daughters' lives so I have to respect that."

Gabby shook her head, "I don't think she's being fair; I know I only know what you told me but…"

"It makes sense looking back now, when we were kids she always tried so hard to pretend we had a perfect family. She's in denial about the whole thing and maybe on some level she believes we did have a perfect childhood."

"No childhood is perfect," Gabby pointed out. "All I wanted when I was little was a normal childhood. I don't remember a time when I didn't have some kind of security detail watching me. I never got to just go outside and play without worrying about anything."

Matt had never thought about that before, he guessed that would be rather hard as a child. Some of the best memories he had were when he was able to play outside with his friends until it was dark out.

"Oh," Gabby swallowed her food and angled her fork at him, "Before I forget Antonio and Laura and the kids are in Chicago for the weekend. I'm going to go tomorrow and see the new baby, do you want to come?"

Matt almost choked on his food, "Uh…." He urged himself to say something, "Sure, if you want me too."

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want you too. It'll be fun." She assured him with a smile.

"Yeah, except I don't think your brother likes me very much," He mentioned, "At least he didn't the last time we met."

"He's just overprotective, he thought I was upset and wanted to defend me," Gabby explained, "Laura will keep him in line. She's like an older sister to me, I've known her since I was seven. The kids are going to be there too; apart from Eva's pre-teen attitude they're really sweet, and I know they'll love you."

"Okay," Matt could sense how important it was for her that he go, he'd do anything that made her happy, "I'll go."

"Good," She smiled; she had to say she liked it when she got her way. "You can stay here tonight and we can go in the morning."

Matt smirked playfully at her, "I'll have to go home though and get my pyjamas."

"Who says you'll need them," She said seductively. She then stood up and took the plates and walked into the kitchen.

Matt's eyes didn't leave her until she was out of sight; as soon as she was he jumped up and followed her. She was bending over and loading the dishwasher, her ass in clear view.

Enjoying the view, Matt tried hard not to make any sound he knew that if Gabby caught him staring it wouldn't be good.

"Like what you see?" She stood turning her head towards him. Matt managed a nod, "Then how about we go upstairs?"

Matt walked quickly over to her and pushed her against the countertop and began kissing her, his hands tugging at her dress.

"Patience, Matt," She breathed against him, she hopped up against the countertop and managed to wrap her legs around his waist without moving her lips from his mouth.

"Gabby," Matt groaned her name as he saw she wasn't wearing anything underneath her dress. "I need you," He lifted her off the counter and took her into his arms. With one hand around her bottom and the other lifting up her dress he walked backwards towards the stairs.

"Last door on the left,' Gabby removed her lips from his from his, as he started walking she kissed him again. As he walked she undid his buttons and placed kisses down his chin and then down his chest as each button came undone.

Opening the door to her bedroom Gabby discarded his shirt and let out a soft giggle as Matt gently threw her onto her bed.

 **TBC**

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 **A\N:** Please leave a review :)


	7. Good First Impression

**A\N:** My apologizes for the longer then usually wait for this chapter, updates might be slower now as I try to make my chapters better by re-writing them and adding in more detail. My beta reader is really busy right now so this chapter is un beta read so any mistakes are mine. A huge thank you to all of my friends on twitter and everyone who has been reading and reviewing this story.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

The next morning when Matt opened his eyes he felt someone snuggle into him. It took him a while to realize where he, but once he did he smiled broadly. He was on his back, one arm draped over Gabby's shoulder and the other around her waist holding her close. Gabby was on her side, her face nuzzled into Matt's side, her hand on his bare chest, the other clutching the messed up sheets that covered them.

Watching Gabby breathe in and out in her sleep, her long thick curly hair ticking his chest, Matt realized he could get used to waking up like this every morning. It wasn't just the sex he loved, because he did, he loved her independence and kindness and how smart she was. She was so privileged, yet you'd never know it. Matt loved the fact that she worked for a living and bought things for herself. He'd been in lots of relationships but he'd never cared for a woman as much as he cared for her. He could really see this relationship be for the long term, maybe even end up in marriage.

"Good morning." Gabby mumbled sleepily. She let out a yawn and sat up, the sheets that had been covering her naked body falling. She sat up against the headboard and reached across Matt to grab her cell phone. Entering the password she entered another password and got a list of favourite contacts.

"High tech." Matt commented, looking over her shoulder. He didn't want to appear like he was snooping but he was curious, Gabby was allowed a cell phone and in appeared to have lots of extra security on it.

"Secret Service requires the highest security apps and measures for me to have my own cell phone." Gabby explained, she got up and put the phone to her ear. As she began to talk she walked around the room picking up pieces of clothing. Balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder she got dressed and threw Matt's clothes at him. "Get dressed!" She whispered urgently.

Matt wasn't quite sure what was going on but he did as he was told. Whatever was going on seemed to be important and stressing her out. He got dressed and listened as she talked on the phone. She was telling, who he presumed was her security detail that they were still planning on going to Antonio's house.

"I'm guessing we're late?" Matt buttoned up his shirt as she hung up the phone and taped on another number.

"Yeah." Gabby rubbed a hand over her face, "I told Antonio I'd be there in ten minutes. So get dressed and go downstairs!" She ordered.

Matt stared at her for a second, he loved seeing her like this, she was hot when she was stressed out. He would be lying if he said he wasn't incredibly turned on by her telling him what to do. Deciding to have some fun he walked over to her and kissed her on the lips smiling as she glared at him. "Who're you talking to now?" He teased her by running his hands up and down her arms.

"Antonio," She hissed through her teeth. "And be quiet! He doesn't need to know you're here, at my condo in the morning!"

"Right." He knew she was being series but couldn't help but continue to tease her. He grabbed her butt and caressed it causing her to let out a soft moan before covering her mouth.

"Matt!" She gasped, and shoved him with one hand, she put the other hand over the mouthpiece; "You just made it a lot harder to get on his good side." She warned him.

This made him stop. He was well aware that getting Antonio to like him was crucial if he had any chance of getting her father to like him. Finding that the room was spinning just a little he, backed up until his feet hit the bed and then he sat down.

Gabby ended the call and put the phone into the back of her jeans, "Don't do that!" She narrowed her eyes pointing a finger at him. "Antonio knew I was with you the minute I called." She was continuing the teasing manner in which he'd been previously in. When she saw his expression had changed she walked over to him and sat down beside him on the edge of her bed. She hadn't meant to freak him out, but she obviously had. "Matt! I was joking, Antonio doesn't hate you. Look, if he does anything Laura can take care of him, trust me. Plus I'm going to be there and so is my cousin Stella.

"Okay," He nodded wanting to believe her. "I'm still nervous, I mean I'm I expected to call him Mr. Senator?" He'd never been in this situation before, never met someone like this on a personal level.

"No." She shook her head taking his hand and squeezing it for comfort. "And don't you dare call him Sir. He had a big enough head as it is. Call him Antonio and if he gives you a hard time you just leave him to me. He may not even be the one you need to impress."

This got Matt's attention. "He's your older brother Gabby. I need to impress him if I'm…" He stopped; did he want Gabby to know that he was already nervous about meeting her father? Nothing had even been arranged yet. He didn't want to scare her off.

"If you want to impress my father you should make sure the kids like you. They like you you're golden." Jose Dawson loved his family and cared deeply about them. He'd do anything for his family. If he saw that Matt genuinely cared and paid attention to Eva, Diego, Daniela and Santiago, he'd already view Matt in a high regard before even getting to know him.

"How did you-"

"You'd be stupid if you weren't worried about meeting him." She cut him off. "But don't stress about that yet." She went to her walk in closet to find something to wear. "You're going to need your winter coat, hat and mitts," She looked over her shoulder at Matt as she began shifting through all of her clothes. She wanted something comfortable as she knew the kids would get her playing outside with them but also something that could be seen as fancy for dinner. "We'll stop at your house on the way so you can go and change, you're going to want something comfortable to wear during the day. You can wear the clothes you wore last night for dinner, one thing you should know is that dinner is always considered more of a dressier occasion in my family.

"Okay." Matt nodded his head, "What are we going to be doing today?" He wasn't sure if the kids would be allowed to play outside or if they had to do school work or educational activities. He wasn't even sure if they had nannies or anything really, "And how old are they again?"

"Eva and Maddie are twelve, Diego's seven, Daniela's four and Santiago is two weeks old." She pulled out a dark blue top and looked at it in the mirror before putting it back. "We'll get there probably around lunch time. You can meet everyone and I'd like to get caught up with Stella and Laura but you can play with the kids. Antonio and Laura will probably have them playing outside. They like the kids to stay active and Stella does too. They're probably really exited to play in the snow, since there's way more here then there is in D.C. especially thanks to that snowstorm we had a few days ago.

"Okay. Do they have nannies? Are they allowed to go to a local hill?" He inquired. "I mean they can't just play normally can they?"

Gabby couldn't hold in a light chuckle. "Of course they can." She looked at him and rolled her eyes, "They're not robots. Maybe they can't go to a local hill like other kids but wait until you see the amount of snow they have to play with. Antonio and Laura's Chicago house is beautifully landscaped and on close to fifty acres of land. The kids have lots of snow to play in. As for nannies, Eva, Diego, Daniela and Santiago have one but I'm not sure if she'll be here or not, if she is she's very nice her names Yolanda. Maddie has one too and I don't know her as well, think her names Jessica."

"Alright." Matt nodded his head; he was pretty sure he knew what part of Chicago Laura and Antonio's house was in. He'd driven past some of the houses in the area he was thinking of, they were all beautifully modern and some of them behind gates, and hidden drives, Mat guessed there's would be one of those ones.

Settling on a light purple sweater and a pair of dark skinny jeans Gabby turned to exit the closet. "I'm going to have a shower." She told him.

An hour later Gabby had finished her shower and they were just leaving Matt's house. Due to security, Gabby could not drive herself to her brother's house, her Secret Service agents had to do it for her.

"So." Matt was still secretly excited that he was riding in a SUV with bullet resistance glass. "Anything I should know not to talk about?" He turned to Gabby and asked. "Like should I avoid any topic that touches on politics?" The last thing Matt wanted to do was to get into an argument over something that Antonio and Stella did for a living. For all he knew maybe they liked to keep their work and home life separate, although given their family he was pretty sure that was highly impossible.

"That rules out a lot of conversations." Gabby concluded, "So don't do that, they're not going to grill you on it, well Antonio might but then you leave him to me. They're normal people Matt," She squeezed his hand, "They're just Senator's for a living, not that scary. There is one thing you should ask though. Maddie doesn't have a father, well she does but… it's not my story. So don't mention that unless you want to get thrown out."

"Right." Matt made a mental note to not mention that, he secretly wondered what had happened but knew, like Gabby had said it wasn't his place to ask. "Noting else?"

"No that's pretty much it." Gabby squeezed his hand reassuringly again, "You're going to do fine, they'll love you. Diego loves police officers and fire fighters already so you'll be his new best friend right away. Daniela's a little ball of energy and loves anything girly and attention and Santiago's a baby. Eva and Maddie might be the hardest ones to please as they try not to like anything unless it's cool."

"Yeah." Matt remember what it was like to be twelve, it wasn't fun, he suspected that for Eva and Maddie, living with as much security and under as many rules as they did that it was even harder.

The ride only took fifteen minutes and Matt had been right, the house was in the areas he'd suspected, he wasn't at all surprised when the car pulled into a very well hidden drive and stopped at a gate. The driver rolled down the window and pressed a button and looked into a camera, soon after the gate opened and they drove in.

They drove down a long driveway lined with trees and some beautiful gardens. They rounded the corner and Matt saw the house. It was a tan brick three-story house with an off-couloured red roof. The driveway wrapped around past some parking spots. An Audi SUV was already parked in one so the SUV went around the roundabout to the smaller house beside the big house. The smaller house that some would call a nanny suite was a small two-story bungalow that one similar SUV was already parked at.

"Alright Ms. Dawson." One of the Secret Service agents turned his head around. "We'll be in Senator Dawson's security house if you need anything."

"Thank you." Jeffrey," Gabby smiled, Jeffery was the youngest agent on her detail she guessed around her age and he was very nice and efficient.

Matt opened the door and took a deep breath, if he was this scared doing this, he was certain he'd have a heart attack when it was time to go to the White House and meet her parents. Maybe when that time came he could convince her going there wasn't a good idea and he'd get to meet them somewhere else. He didn't think that would be possible but it was always worth a try to ask.

"You'll be fine." Gabby squeezed Matt's hand as they began to walk up the walkway towards the house.

"What's the other house for? The security house?"

"Oh, Antonio has security camera's around here, one was at the gate and a few others, they're connected to monitors in that house. His security team monitors them 24\7 while he's here. The house has a washroom, a bedroom, a living area and a kitchen." She further explained. "Antonio has a similar set-up in the main house in D.C only it's much bigger as they're always more agents there."

"Ah." Matt nodded that made sense.

Gabby rang the doorbell and it only took a few minutes for it to be opened. There, standing in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt as Antonio, "Hey sis!" He hugged her pulling he into the house, "How are you?" He kissed her cheek and gave her a fist bump.

"Tia Gabby!" Daniela came running at her, her braided pigtails bouncing up and down as she ran. "Tia Gabby!" She wrapped her arms around Gabby's middle and smiled up at her. "Tia Gabby! Tia Gabby pick me up!" She stated jumping up and down.

"Daniela." Antonio looked at his daughter and frowned, "I told you to stay in the kitchen and finish your lunch. You need to learn you listen, your older brother and sister didn't come running out here, neither did your cousin."

Daniela removed her arms from around Gabby and pouted, she hated being scolded, "Sorry Daddy." She apologized.

"You know the rules Daniela, you finish your lunch and ask to be excused." He knew she was excited, but she needed to learn how to behave. "Did you tell Stella where you were going?"

"No." The three-year-old shook her head, her braids swinging as her head shook. "I'm sorry Daddy."

"Go back into the kitchen." He shooed her away. "We'll be there in a second."

Not wanting to get into any trouble Daniela scurried away.

"She's really cute." Matt loved the girl's pink and grey dress and white tights. Her long dark brown hair was tied into two braided ponytails. "You're right Gabby she does have lots of energy though."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." Antonio warned, then turning to look at Matt he stuck out his hand, "Nice to see you again Matt." He eyed him a little trying to gage just how nervous the other man was.

"Nice to see you again Antonio." Matt shook his hand with a firm handshake of his own.

"Come on." Gabby took Matt's hand sending Antonio a look of her own; she didn't appreciate him staring her boyfriend down. "Come and meet the kids and Stella. Is Laura upstairs with the baby?"

"Yeah, she's feeding him and she was going to change him too. She wanted him happy when you saw him." Antonio explained, he led them past three rooms and into a small hallway.

The closer they got to the kitchen the more they could hear all of the voices, once they entered the gourmet kitchen, all of the children looked up. Daniela was back sitting at the table beside her brother Diego, Diego was a carbon copy of Antonio, Eva and Maddie looked similar but Eva looked similar to Laura as well.

Before anyone talked and before she said hello Gabby wanted to introduce Matt, "Kids, Stella," Gabby looked at them, "This is my boyfriend Matt, Matt's a firefighter. Matt," She went to Daniela who was sitting closet to her, "This little monster is Daniela," She kissed the top of her head, "Beside her is Eva," She kissed Eva's head, "And Diego," She kissed Diego's head, "And this is my cousin Stella, and her daughter Madelyn," She kissed Maddie's head.

Diego quickly swallowed his sandwich. "Cool you're a fire fighter!" He looked up at Matt in awe, "I love fire fighters! Do you go into buildings? Do you go up tall ladders? Can I see your uniform? I've always wanted to ride in a truck." Diego stood up on his chair to ask his questions. He looked up at Matt and smiled broadly. "What kind od fire fighter are you?"

"Diego sit in your chair and finish eating lunch!" Antonio ordered. "You can ask Matt questions later."

"Yes Sir." Diego climbed down and sat in his chair and took a spoonful of his chicken noodle soup.

"Gabby, Matt help yourself to some sandwiches and soup." Antonio offered as he sat down to finish his own meal, "There are lots left."

"Yeah Tia Gabby." Eva smiled up at her as she and Maddie let out a few giggles well looking at Matt, "I miss you."

"You know what I'm starving, I haven't had any breakfast." Gabby walked towards the cupboards and got out two bowls and two plates, "I don't think Matt's eaten anything yet either."

"No, I think you had desert first." Antonio quipped. Stella gasping silently before looking at her cousin who was bright red. "That's what you were doing when I called right."

"Tia Gabby's that's bad." Daniela pointed out innocently waving her finger at her aunt.

Chuckling Gabby took a seat at the table, "Well sweetie sometimes it's alright."

"So 'Tia' is that Spanish for 'aunt'? Matt asked, changing the subject."

"Yeah," Gabby nodded, "Now kids you can call Matt by his first name but he's still an adult so you be respectful alright." She looked around the table to make sure they all understood.

"All done Daddy!" Daniela announced as she took the last bite of her ham and cheese sandwich, looking at Matt she pointed to the crusts on her plate and said. "Crusts are yucky. Mommy and Unda always take them off."

"Yes and Daddy forgot," Antonio sighed, "Now go put your plates in the sink Daniela. Then you can wait for Eva or Maddie to take you outside to play."

"Dad!" Eva whined, she and Maddie wanted to hang our my themselves, she hated it when she had to baby-sit, "Why did you give Yolanda the weekend off? I'm not a babysitter."

"Excuse me, long lady!" Antonio narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, "What did you just say to me?" If it took everything he had he'd get Eva to stop it with the sassy comebacks and rebellious tendencies, he didn't need a rebellious teenage daughter.

"I'll come out and help you Eva." Matt told her, "But you need to start being better behaved alright." He could see why Antonio was frustration, especially if she acted like this all the time.

Despite still being annoyed Eva finished up her lunch and said, "Thanks Matt. Come on sweetie," She lifted Daniela up into her arms and carried her younger sister and there dishes to the sink. She put the plates and bowls in the sink before proceeding to carry Daniela away. On their way out of the room they passed Laura who had Santiago in a sling, the newborn sleeping peacefully.

"Oh Laura!" Gabby stood up and walked over to her sister in-law. She hugged her and then peered into the swing, "Oh, the pictures don't do him justice, he's adorable," She cooed, "I'm so glad he looks more like you, one carbon copy of Antonio is enough."

"Very funny," Antonio rolled his eyes, "For your information little sister he's only two weeks old, he could still grow up to look like me."

"For his sake I hope not!" Stella laughed.

"I'm being cornered, come on Diego." He saw his son had finished his lunch, "Go put your dishes away and we can go downstairs to play or play outside."

"No Daddy." Diego shook his head, "I want to play with Matt!"

"Oh," Antonio looked at Matt. It was rare that Diego didn't want to play with him. "Well only if it's okay with Matt."

Matt nodded his head instantly, "Of course buddy," He lifted the seven year old up, "We can play whatever you want."

"Lets play outside first and then we can play inside," Diego smiled, "Daddy you can come to though, if you want."

"I think I will," Antonio stood up, "Let Mommy, Tia Gabby and Stella talk for awhile."

"Okay." Matt carried him to the sink so he could put his dishes away, and then followed Antonio out of the room.

"He's gorgeous Gabby!" Stella said sincerely, "And he's great with the kids too. I think you may have found the perfect guy. Now tell us all about what you did this morning."

"He stayed over at my condo last night alright. I think you can figure the rest out for yourself." She'd never been one to talk about her personal relationships but she knew Stella loved to hear all about them. "It's different with him though." She lowered her voice, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "In a very good way." She added.

"Yeah I can imagine that." Stella commented. "You look really happy kid. I'm glad you deserve it, you really do, especially after what happened with Alex."

"Thanks." Gabby smiled. "So tell me about what's been going on with you."

The woman talked for over half an hour without being interrupted.

"Tia Gabby!" Daniela came running into the room, "Come play!" She ran to her and jumped on her lap.

"Daniela, go pee that's why we're in here." Eva followed her and took her hand leading her back out of the room, "The adults are talking."

"Why?" Daniela stopped walking and turned to walk back onto the room.

"Tell you what." Gabby looked at her. "You give us twenty more minutes and then Matt and I will come and play with you guys alright?"

"Yay!" Daniela cheered happily and then followed Eva back out of the room. She went pee and let Eva take her outside to play.

When Matt and Gabby got outside the kids were busy building a snow family. Diego and Maddie we're working on there own one's and Eva was helping Daniela with hers. At this point the kids had been outside playing for nearly an hour and it as getting colder.

"Tia Gabby!" Diego ran to her as soon as he saw her, his boots crunching under the snow, "Matt's the best ever! He said he's a Lt."

"He is, do you know what that means?" Gabby asked, fixing her nephew's hat.

"It mean's he's in charge of a lot of people." Diego informed her. "He's really cool! Can he box?"

"I don't know," Gabby took his hand and walked with him back to where Antonio and Matt were, "Why don't you ask him."

Diego released his hand from Gabby's and went up to Matt, "Matt can you box?"

"I can't but I heat you're pretty good." He looked at the young boy, "Maybe you can teach me."

Diego's eyes gleamed up at him, he couldn't believe he was asking him to so that, "I can! I know how to box! Lets go right now!" He took his hand and began pulling him into the house.

"Hang on Diego," Gabby chuckled, "Stella made some hot chocolate for everyone, lets go inside and drink it. Then can teach Matt to box."

"Alright," Diego agreed.

"I'm going o go and see what the girls are working on," Gabby turned and walked to the other side of the back lawn where Eva, Stella and Daniela were working on what looked like a fort.

"Fifteen more minutes, then you can come inside for some hot chocolate," Gabby informed them.

"Do you like it Tia Gaby?" Eva asked. "It would have been better but Diego wrecked our first one. We had to start all over again."

"Yeah," Daniela mimicked her sister.

"They were going to be really tall and so pretty," Maddie added, "Now there's only one of them. Maybe tomorrow we can make another one though."

"Yeah," Eva nodded, "Do you want to do that Daniela?"

"Yes!" She jumped up and down excitedly.

"Then that's what we'll do." Eva told her.

 **TBC**

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 **A\N:** Please leave a review :D


	8. Gabby's Past

**A\N:** You guys have no idea how happy all of your reads and reviews make me, please keep them coming! This chapter wouldn't be possible without my two friends who inspired Jenna and Giselle, they've been waiting awhile for this chapter so I really hope they like it. I'd also like to thank my beta reader who is still editing my stories for me even though she's super busy. Thank you so much.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **Early April:**

"Alright." Jenna closed the front door and carried the Chinese take out into the living room. "We have food, sweets, Netflick and most importantly alcohol, everything we need for a girls night in." She placed the food on the living room table and Giselle and Gabby started loading their plates with food.

Recently, all three of their schedules had been conflicting and they hadn't had the same day off in almost a month. It would be nice for all of them to catch up and sit and relax, especially after a busy long weekend for all three of them. Jenna had flown back to New York to visit her family and Gabby had flown to D.C. while Giselle had stayed in Chicago to visit her family but she was just as busy as her friends.

"So," Giselle narrowed her eyes and looked at Gabby an evil smirk forming on her lips. "Let's start off with the good stuff. Tell us how Matt is in bed. He must be good considering you keep hitting the bedpost or the wall all the time. You know for an expensive condo the walls are very thin." She commented with a smirk. Her bedroom was right next to Gabby's and so she could hear quite a lot.

Gabby wasn't surprised by her best friend's questions, she was used to them by now. Giselle didn't have any problem talking about or asking questions like that, but Gabby had trouble answering them as she has never been as open as Giselle. Sticking her tongue out at her, she shoved food into her mouth so she wouldn't be able to talk.

"Oh come on!" Giselle whined, "At least tell us something!"

Gabby took her time swallowing her food, much to Giselle's frustration. "You know I don't like talking about that kind of thing, G but I guess…" She knew she'd have to tell her something or she wouldn't hear the end of it all night. "It's like our bodies were made for each other. With him it's just amazing, everything is so good."

"I can tell by how hard you hit the wall with your hand." Giselle told her.

"I think I made a permanent mark on the headboard I've griped it so many times with my hand." Gabby admitted, with a short laugh. "I can't help it." She said and then began eating again, her friends knowing that was a sign she'd had enough.

"I'm glad you're so happy, Gabby. I've never seen you this happy in a relationship before. Do you think maybe Matt could be the one?" Jenna highly valued her friendships and always wanted her friends to be happy. Seeing Gabby, who'd had her fair share of bad relationships, in such a good one made her very happy.

"Maybe," Gabby admitted. "He really understands me and seeing him with my nephew Diego was incredible. He's so good with kids, it comes natural to him, I know he wants a family and he'd be a great father. Plus… after Diego and my nieces Eva and Daniela told my parents so much about him they want to meet him. They suggested me bringing him to D.C. for the family reunion in July."

"Wow! You don't think that would freak him out? Meeting your parents and all of your family at the same time?" Giselle asked. The annual family reunion Gabby's father's side of the family had was huge and quite a big deal.

"I'd take him to D.C. a few days before the actual reunion." Gabby told them. "My father's having it at Camp David this year, so there's going to be lots to do, and lots of kids. I think Matt may be okay with it." She wasn't telling the entire truth. She wasn't sure what Matt's reaction would be. Meeting her parents would be the hardest part but then Stella's brother was a Senator, their father was Secretary of Defense, not to mention, she had an Uncle who was Secretary of the United States Navy and another uncle who was a Federal Judge. For anyone, meeting any one of those would be scary, but meeting them all together could be a nightmare. She had to make sure that when she asked Matt he didn't feel pressured into going just so they didn't break up.

"You're not going to ask him are you?" Giselle could see the wheels in her friend's head turning.

"I don't think so," Gabby took another sip of her cocktail. "I need to really think that it's the right time to ask him. I mean, like you said, it is huge. Meeting my family will be intimidating. I want us to be in a really good place before he meets them. I don't even know if he'd be able to take time off anyways." She reached for her drink and took a sip.

"Call him right now and ask!" Jenna ordered pointing to her friend's cell phone that was on the table.

"You're going to have to get me a lot more drunk before that happens."

"That can be arranged." Giselle topped up her glass.

"No." Gabby shook her head laughing; "I'm seeing Matt for the first time in a month tomorrow. I can't be hung over." She ran a hand over her face and sighed, "Fine. Maybe drinking more will help be decide if I want to ask Matt to come to D.C. with me or not."

"He really seems to understand you." Jenna said as she began looking through the movies on Netflick. "Plus, it's obvious he really likes you. I can tell just by the way he looks at you. And he came by the hospital after that newspaper article and everything. I like him the best out of all your boyfriends I've met."

"Yeah," Gabby pulled at her hair. She'd be the first one to admit she didn't have the best luck with boyfriends, her last one in particular still gave her nightmares. "I haven't really told him the main reason why I don't want to go out much. I don't want my face in the media but you guys know it's…" Both Jenna and Giselle nodded their heads. "So what movie do you want to watch?"

* * *

Matt was in his garage working at his tool bench when Gabby parked her car on the street. Since she was only going to Matt's house she'd given her Secret Service Agents a day off, although she did have to text or call and check in every hour.

Gabby walked up the driveway and passed his truck. Matt was sitting at a workbench sawing off pieces of wood. Surrounding him were some long wooden pieces and even four windows and a door. Along the walls of the garage were tools and other equipment someone who worked in construction needed.

Matt had told her that in the winter he cleared out everything and stored them in a shed out back so he could park his truck in the garage. The last time Gabby had seen it that's where the car had been. The turnaround must have happened fast. Gabby guessed, now that the nicer weather had come he had lots of construction jobs."

"Hey." She smiled walking up his driveway. "What are you working on?" She wondered.

Turning to look at her, Matt smiled; he'd missed her in the few weeks they hadn't been able to see each other. She was only wearing jeans and a t-shirt with very little make-up on but Matt thought she looked gorgeous. "Take your pick. I have a lot of projects on the go for different clients. Once the nicer weather comes I get a lot of jobs.

"Ah." She understood that, although she felt guilty about coming if he needed to work. "I don't want you to miss any deadlines because of me. We can reschedule if you want."

"No way." Matt shook his head. "I'm finished with a cabinet I need for tomorrow that I'm going to install in a clients house and then get started on renovating their deck. I already have the pieces I need." He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the lips. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you to. How was your Easter?" She asked returning the kiss.

"I worked but it was slow, only a few calls. How was D.C?" He rubbed his hands off on his jeans.

"Good. Diego was really upset you couldn't be there." She decided to hold off on asking him to go with her to the family reunion. "I told him he'd get to see you again another time."

"Sure." Matt smiled. "The next time Antonio and Laura bring the kids to Chicago, I'd love to see them. He's a great kid, really smart too. I'd like to see Eva, Maddie, Daniela and Santiago again too." He led her out of the garage and back into his house.

"I'll make sure to pass the message along." She walked up to him. "So what's the plan for today?" She wondered.

"Well I need to have a quick shower, but after that I was thinking we could go to Navy Pier. Maybe have a picnic and just walk around, it's a beautiful spring day." He knew she didn't like to be out in public a lot but he figured one day would be okay.

"Uh…" Gabby closed her eyes. "I gave my security the day off, anyways why don't we just stay here." She hoped he'd understand she couldn't go without her security, she didn't want to explain things further.

"Sure. We can go tomorrow after I finish at my construction job." He didn't have a problem with spending a day alone in the house with her today.

"Why do you want to go out? Why can't we just stay in?" Gabby really didn't want to start an argument with him.

"Why _don't_ you want to go out?" He countered. They'd never once gone out in public together as a couple. Was she ashamed of him? He was pretty sure them always staying inside wasn't solely because of the media. "There are no paparazzi around here anyways. I thought that's part of your Secret Service agents job to keep you safe?"

"Matt!" She clenched her fists together and began to pace, "I have my reasons alright. And just so you know there doesn't always have to be paparazzi and media around anymore. Everyone has cameras on their phones. I don't want my picture to end up on a social media site."

This wasn't making any sense. Surely Gabby's picture had turned up on a social media site before? Her brother and father both had social media accounts and he was almost positive he'd seen pictures of her on them. Now he was almost positive that this whole thing was about something more than her not wanting to go out.

"Until you know what it's like to have your picture up…. and to hear people talk about you, don't tell me what I should do!" She yelled. She hadn't been this afraid, this panicked about anything since she'd finally broken up with Alex. Even though he'd been threatened and warned to stay away from her she was too ashamed about what had happened to tell her father or brother or even her cousin Stella. Therefore nothing official had been drawn up, he could come back into her life at any time.

Giselle and Jenna were the only two she'd ever told, only ones who knew how bad things had gotten between them. It had been in mid August when they'd finally convinced her to break up with him. Not able to go to a hospital or a doctor without something leaking out she'd been treating herself for weeks and months. After finally breaking up with him he threatened to come back and to find her. She could have told someone, gone public but she was afraid it would ruin her father's chances at the Presidency. She was too ashamed to explain to him, or anyone else in her family why she'd let Alex do all of the things he had done to her.

"Alright Gabby." Matt walked towards her placing a hand on her arm, she flinched back and he could see she was starting to cry. "We don't have to go anywhere Gabby."

"I think," She took a deep breath and then breathed it all out. "I think I need some time to think things over." She turned to leave, she picked up her purse she'd dropped on the counter and walked towards the door.

"Gabby!" Matt shouted sprinting after her.

"Just please, leave me alone!" She took the door handle.

"No!" Matt reached past her and shut the door. She was crying now and was pretty shaken up. He didn't feel safe with her going out and driving in her condition. "I don't want you driving like this. Gabby, baby I know something's bothering you. Please, please tell me what it is."

"Matt!" She shook her head; she really didn't want to have to explain. "I'm fine!" She pushed his hand away and opened the door. She got out to the porch before losing her balance and reaching for something to grab onto. Matt lunged forward and caught her just before she collapsed.

"Okay." He helped her walk back into the house, he led her into the living room and helped her sit down on the couch. He placed a kiss on her forehead, "I'm worried about you Babe." He wanted, wished she could tell him what was going on, but not if it was going to cause her so much distress.

"I'm fine really." She tried to downplay the seriousness of what had just happened, "I just need some water," She went to stand up but Matt gently pushed her back down.

"I'll get you the water." He kissed her forehead again before going into the kitchen to get her the water, He returned a few seconds later with the water, handing it to her he sat down beside her. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong Gabby, but just know I'm always here for you."

Gabby let Matt hold her, finally after what seemed like hours she looked at him, "I-"

Matt placed a finger on her lips. "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to."

"No, no." She took a deep breath. "Just please promise me you won't think any less of me. I've only ever told Giselle and Jenna about this and I swore them both to secrecy."

"I could never think any less of you." At that moment Matt couldn't say he knew what she was about to tell him.

"I told you about my ex boyfriend Alex, well there's more to the story. We started dating last year when my Dad was still trying to become the party candidate for the Presidency. I've always kind of felt as though my Dad wasn't as proud of me as he is of Antonio and when Antonio was helping out with the campaign so much it only intensified that feeling. I met Alex at a bar and we had a one-night stand, something I wasn't very proud of. Anyways, we started seeing each other just for sex. After about five months is when things started to get really bad, I mean he was never a nice guy, he was a sleaze ball but one night we were out drinking and he had too many and he-"

Knowing what she was about to say Matt pulled her protectively in his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, this intimate act helped settle her down and allowed her to continue.

"He started hitting me, I told him to stop but he didn't listen, I tried leaving him after that, I really did, but imagine all of the horrible things you think about yourself, and then imagine someone else you care about not only thinking them but telling you they're true. He really did a number on my self-confidence. Over the months things only got worse in July, Giselle and Jenna finally convinced me to leave him. I told him not to contact me ever again but he threatened he'd come back. I'm really worried he will, that's why I don't want to go out in public. I don't want him seeing my picture on the internet, I'm scared enough he saw the newspaper article a few months ago.

"And you never told your father or your brother?" Matt asked her. He was a little shocked to say the least. Surely they would have been able to get this ex-boyfriend to never see her again; surely they'd make sure he was prosecuted.

"I was too ashamed. By this time it was right around the Convention and it was clear my father was the clear favourite. I didn't want word to get out and it to ruin his chances. By that point I'd already caused more than a few missteps in the campaign because of Alex. Don't think less of my father." Gabby saw the disgust on Matt's face, "He loves me and I know he does but politics aren't always nice. I just told them I broke up with him, no one liked him anyways."

Matt kissed her head and caressed her cheek. "I'm glad you told me. We don't have to go out in public if you don't want to."

"It's not that I don't want to," She began to explain, "It's just that I'm so afraid he'll find me again. Even if I didn't have to worry about looking over my shoulder for him I still don't like being recognized. I'm really sorry."

"No, that's okay," Matt held her close, "I understand, I really do."

Gabby sighed contently and let him hold her. After telling him she felt like a weight had been lifted from her. It was then that she realized what they had was serious and that she was certain she wanted Matt by her side when she went to D.C.

"Matt?"

"Uhm," He mumbled, his face buried in her hair. He loved the smell of the shampoo she used. Since her back was against his chest her long curly, dark hair was in his face and he loved it. In his opinion there was no smell sexier than whatever shampoo Gabby used, it drove him crazy. One day, he'd really need to take a shower with her.

"Every summer my Dad's side of the family has a reunion, this year my father's hosting it at Camp David, I want you to come with me."

This got Matt's attention, he stopped smelling her hair and sat up straighter. He wasn't sure what to say and every minute he was sure his heart was beating faster, "Yeah, sure," He nodded slowly he knew meeting her parents was the logical next step, "Sure."

Gabby turned herself around so her back was against the couch, tucking her legs underneath her she looked at Matt. "We can go a few days earlier so you can meet my parents first. I know this probably won't help any but they already like you."

"They do?" He was a little confused, "Gabby just because you-"

"Not just me. Diego wouldn't stop talking about you all through Easter dinner. Much to Antonio's frustration, Diego's now decided he wants to be a firefighter and not a police officer when he grows up. You have Daniela on your side too. We were outside and a fire truck passed and she started shouting your name."

Picturing the toddler shouting after the fire truck made him chuckle. "I'm glad your nieces and nephews like me, Babe, but I really don't think that means your parents approve of us dating."

"Let me finish." She gently shoved him. "My mother told me that any man that has the unconditional love of two young children is a keeper, she always says that young children are a great judge of character. Now my father, I don't think he's ever liked any of my boyfriend's but he let Diego talk about you for half an hour before he changed the subject. And he asked Diego a few questions too."

Matt wasn't surprised Gabby's father hadn't liked any of her boyfriend's from what he'd heard and read Eduardo Dawson was a very strict, old-schooled man who loved and cherished his family. "Babe, this isn't making me any less nervous."

"Diego can talk a lot if you let him and my father is usually one of the first ones to quiet him down, but he listened and was interested." Gabby looked him in the eyes, she was trying to gauge if he was really scared or just a little nervous. Frustrated at not getting an answer she said, "You don't have to come, I know it's a lot to ask and I'm not saying it'll be an easy week but I think you'll enjoy it."

Matt was most nervous about meeting her father but he knew one of her Uncle's was Secretary of State and one Secretary of the Navy. Plus, he didn't know how many other people would be at the reunion.

"Okay. But how many people are going to be there, and do you think you could make me a family there or some sort of diagram?"

Gabby hugged him and kissed him on the lips, grabbing the remote she cuddled into him again. "There will be about forty-two people there. And I'll tell you all about them but we better start now so how about we save the picnic for another day and order in some food and watch movies. I can start you off with the basic information after the movie is over."

"Sounds like a plan." Matt smiled and reached for his cell phone out of his pocket.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** Please leave a review! :D

 **Up Next:** Matt and Gabby prepare to leave for D.C. How will Matt meeting Gabby's parents go?


	9. Meeting the Parents

**A\N:** I'm so sorry for the long delay in updating. I had a hard time writing this chapter because I knew it was an important one and I wanted to get it right. As always thank you to all of you for reading and reviewing and to my amazing friends on Twitter as well as my beta reader.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **Mid July:**

Matt studied the two papers in front of him intensely. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes trying to remember all of the names and the relations. As promised, after she'd invited him to the family reunion Gabby had made up a list of her family members who'd be attending the reunion, she included the children's ages and what the adults did, she also drew up a family tree which was helping him a great deal.

"Will that be all, Sir?" A Flight Attendant placing a glass of water in front of him snapped him out of his daydream.

"Yes," Matt nodded. He took a sip of the water to calm his nerves and looked around the private plane. It wasn't Air Force One but a smaller private plane the President had at his disposal. From what Matt could see there were two long leather coaches and ten comfy chairs that lounged back, in front of the chairs there was a flat screen television.

"It'll be okay," Gabby took his hand and squeezed it, "I know it won't help any but don't be nervous."

"Oh yeah." Matt took a deep breath and rolled his eyes back into his head, "I'm only meeting my girlfriend's father who _happens_ to be the President of the United States. No need to be nervous at all." He took another drink of water and suddenly wished he had something stronger to drink.

Gabby let out a short laugh, "Alright, I'd be worried if you weren't; a little nervous but just remember how much Diego is looking forward to seeing you. And you already know my parents think highly of you.

"Yeah until your father talks to me and I fumble for words." He loosened his tie, he felt like it was chocking him. He understood though that he needed to dress formally for dinners and formal gatherings, if such an opportunity arose. Gabby's parents, her mother especially were very traditional Catholic. Her mother being born in Madrid, Spain, her father in Chicago, both his parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic. To Matt's understandings as a child Eduardo Dawson had spent quite a lot of time in the Dominican Republic with relatives in poor conditions. As President he wanted to do something to help the growing number of people living below the poverty line in the United States.

"Oh you'll be fine," Gabby leaned over and kissed him. Removing her lips from his she let out a soft chuckle, "You better go and get the lipstick marks off of your mouth. Unless you want to meet my parents with my lipstick on you."

"No, no," Matt stood, at first a little unsteady on his feet, "Where's the bathroom?" I had to be near the back of the plane as in front of them was only the TV and a small area where the flight attendant sat and then the doorway to the cockpit.

"It's just down there," Gabby pointed, "I'll go with you actually I need to fix my make-up." She reached into her bag and retrieved her make-up bag. She stood up and kissed him again, this time for longer. "You made me mess it all up."

"Me?" He eyed her, "You're the one who kissed me!"

Gabby leaned in close and whispered, "It's not my fault you look sexy in a suit. If we weren't on my father's plane-"

"Gabby!" Matt bit his lip and let out a groan, "Don't!" He knew once she started talking like that there was no way he'd be able to survive long without her.

"What? You don't want to join the mile high club?" She took his hand and led him passed the Secret Service agents and around the corner. She opened the door to the small bathroom, "Just enough room for both of us." She pointed out.

"Don't you think they'll hear something?" Matt motioned, where just a short hallway away her Agents were sitting.

"Not if we're quiet and quick," She pushed him into the bathroom and began kissing him.

Matt knew this probably wasn't the best idea but he wasn't going to complain. He wanted to make a good first impression with her family, especially her father, "Babe." He took her hands in his and whispered, "I want to but this is your father's plane. I just…. I don't think I'd be able to face him when I meet him," He admitted.

Gabby was disappointed, she wasn't going to lie but she understood. In the back of her mind she knew it wasn't the best idea either. "Still, you need to go and wipe off your mouth and I need to fix my make-up.

Matt kissed her and walked into the small bathroom, it took him a few minutes to wipe off his face and her around ten minutes to fix her make-up. After that they arrived back to their seats.

For the remainder of the plane ride Gabby read while Matt studied the sheets of paper more, he didn't want to mess up once at the family reunion. He knew how important Gabby's family was to her and he wanted to impress not only her but her parents and everyone else as well. Without telling her he'd done further research and discovered and written down descriptions what all of her uncles did and made notes on what to talk to them about. Although he wanted to impress everyone he knew her parents, brother, uncles and Abuelo were the ones he needed to impress the most.

"Oh," Gabby put down her book and turned her head to look at him, "Diego thinks he's going to have you all to himself all week. Now we know that's not true Antonio and Laura have told him that… but he's stubborn. Don't be afraid to be strict with him."

Matt understood, after only one meeting, the seven year old was rather attached to him. "I'll tell him times that I'll play with him. Maybe that'll help. Although they'll be lots of kids for him to play with, all around his age mostly." He double-checked his list that listed the children's ages. "Any last minute things I should know about the kids? Allergies? Medical Conditions?" The last thing Matt wanted was to be left alone with a child and then for something serious to happen.

Gabby smiled and kissed his cheek, that was so thoughtful to ask that. Not a lot of people would wonder that, yet Matt who was so caring and sweet, did. Once again he showed her he'd make an excellent father one day, "Stella's niece Rachel has Down's Syndrome. She's the sweetest little thing though. And Sophia has an allergy to nuts and peanuts. She has an EpiPen."

"I know how to use one of those," Matt told her as he made another note on the paper, "Should I tell her parents?" He wondered.

"You can if you want, but I don't think they'll be very far away from her. They only discovered it less than a year ago and they're still pretty shaken up. Sophia almost died, it was just awful, I'll never forget it, I was on duty in the ER when she was brought in. She was so pale and…." Gabby began to cry, "It was just awful."

Matt took her hand and squeezed it. He'd seen some pretty horrible things in his career as a firefighter but hurt or dead children always got to him the most. He didn't think that children should have to die; they had too much to live for.

Before long the plane touched down at Andrew's Field at Joint Base Andrews. Once the plane was on the ground Gabby took her purse and unbuckled her seatbelt. "It'll be alright." She promised.

They got off the plane and awaiting them were twelve Secret Service Agents along with a limo and three SUV's. Matt let Gabby go down the stairs first and he noticed as soon as the agents saw her they all stopped talking. Gabby and Matt made it onto the tarmac and her four Secret Service agent did as well.

"You and Mr. Casey will be riding in the limo and I'll be in the first SUV," Agent Ford explained, "Did you need anything from your luggage Ma'am?" He turned to Gabby and asked.

"No I'm good," Gabby turned to him, "And remember don't call me Ma'am. I feel like I should be calling you Sir." She admitted. She'd known Agent Ford since she was twelve years old and never liked him addressing her as 'Ms. Dawson' but she understood that it was a formality.

"Right," He nodded. As he'd never been fortunate enough to marry and have children he thought of Gabby like a daughter. He'd been with Gabby during her slightly rebellious teen years when she constantly escaped her protection details and went to wild and crazy parties. When she'd overcome that stage to become the woman she is now he was very proud of her.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Dawson." A driver opened the backdoor of the limo for Gabby as their bags were being loaded into the trunk, "And it's very nice to meet you, Mr. Casey."

"Nice to meet you too," He saw a Secret Service agent speak into his earpiece as he got into the lead SUV. He heard the word 'butterfly' and the word 'firebird' and wondered if those were code words.

As he got into the limo Matt took a quick look around, he'd never been in one before but he didn't want too look to impressed, a part of him was still worried Gabby would wake up from this daydream and realize she could do much better then him.

"So should I start calling you butterfly?" He laughed as he looked at her, "I heard an agent say it into a mouthpiece."

"Oh yeah." She laughed, "That's my codename. All of the names start with 'b"

"Ah Ms. Dawson," Alicia Henderson, the First Lady's personal assistant slid into the limo, and sat opposite Gabby and Matt. "Your mother asked me to come and meet you to tell you about the plan for the day." It was two o'clock on Saturday and it would take them thirty-six minutes without traffic to get to the White House. "When you arrive at the White House your parents will be waiting for you. After that you have a few minutes to get settled in your rooms before sitting outside. Senator Dawson and his family will be arriving some time after that and are staying for dinner." She looked at Matt, "Welcome to D.C. Mr. Casey. I hear this is your first time in the city."

"Yeah," Matt nodded as he turned his head from the view outside the limo.

"Interesting first time to see it. If you'd like I can arrange for some private tours next week when you're here. Unfortunately for security reasons I cannot recommend Ms. Dawson go to places with lots of tourists."

Matt looked at Gabby, he didn't want to say yes if she had other plans, and she nodded her head, "Sure Sounds good."

"Great," She made a note in her phone, "I'll get right on that. Oh and just to let you know the Secret Service gave you an unofficial codename of 'firebird' since you are a firefighter they thought it would be cute."

"Ah," Matt smiled and nodded, "I like that. I'll have to thank them. Who else has codenames?"

"My parents and Antonio, Laura and the kids do." Gabby explained. "Usually it's only the President, First Lady and any children they have, but because Antonio is a Senator and they decided it was important Laura and the kids got them as well. The Secret Service works together with Antonio's private security guards to protect him an his family."

"Ah," Matt nodded, that made sense considering as grandchildren of the President and children of a Senator Eva, Diego, Daniela and Santiago would be at an even greater risk of being kidnapped or targeted in anyway.

As they got closer to the centre of D.C. the traffic got worse and it took them almost ninety minutes to get to the White House. The limo stopped at the gate and the window opened and a guard looked inside and Matt could see another looking under the car with a mirror. It didn't take them long to be cleared though.

Matt had only ever seen the White House before in pictures, and like most Americans never imagined he'd be getting to go into the areas off limits to the public He didn't think he'd ever been as nervous as he was when the limo came to a stop outside the entrance.

Gabby leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek before getting out of the limo. Gabby got out and straightened out her dress. She looked at her parents and smiled. There was no question that Gabby was looking at her parents; she looked exactly like her mother, with her dark caramel skin and dark curls, brown eyes and round face. Her nose and mouth though were like her father's who Antonio was a carbon copy of.

"Mama, Papa," Gabby walked towards them. She hugged her mother and then turned to her father kissing him on the cheek and hugging him as well. "Mama, Papa," She turned to look at Matt who had barely moved from his place next to the limo. She walked over to Matt and took his hand, "This is my boyfriend Matthew Casey. Matt these are my parents Esmeralda Dawson and Eduardo Dawson."

After a few seconds of not remembering how to talk Matt snapped back to reality and took Esmeralda's hand, "It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Dawson."

"It's so nice to finally meet you too Matt. We've heard a lot about you; but you can call me Esmeralda." She could see the young man standing in front of her was nervous, and she expected him to be. She could also tell though that he cared for her daughter very much and that was something she appreciated, Gabby deserved a great man and she hoped she'd finally found him.

Matt moved to Gabby's father and extended his hand, "It's an honour to meet you, Mr. President, Sir," He said, he was trying his best to hold in his nerves but he didn't think he was doing a good job.

Eduardo looked him over; he looked presentable but he'd met many people who only looked presentable on the outside. He knew the young man was a firefighter and according to both his children and daughter in-law, was fantastic with his grandchildren. Looking at Gabby he could tell how much Matt meant to her as well, all he wanted was for his daughter to be happy.

"Papa," Gabby could almost tell what her father was thinking, "Matt's the firefighter that you presented with the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valour in March."

"Yes." President Dawson nodded. "I remember that. It'd very nice to meet you again son." He shook his hand, "Let's have a talk in my office." He nodded to his guards and they began walking.

Matt turned back to look at Gabby, who gave him a reassuring smile, that was all she could do really. She told him that this would happen so he'd been somewhat prepared for it. One Secret Service Guard opened the door to the Oval Office and Eduardo walked in.

For a second Matt remained outside just looking in, it was more marvellous then he'd seen in pictures and he almost didn't want to step in.

"Come on son," Eduardo encouraged, "Sit down and have a seat," He motioned to the couch he was sitting across of. Matt nodded and slowly made his way into the room.

"Now I don't want you to worry," The President began, "I know Gabriela cares a lot about you, and I can tell you care a lot about her as well. I love my daughter very much though and I want to make sure that she won't be hurt anytime soon. Bringing you here though makes me think that might not happen still though I need to know."

"I understand Sir. The truth is…" He took a deep breath, he'd never admitted this out loud before, "I'm in love with your daughter, I love her more than I thought it was possible to love anyone. I'd love to one day call her my wife but for now I'll just work every day trying to be the kind of man she deserves."

Eduardo leaned back in his chair and crosses his arms. He was trying to figure out if he was being played or not. That was almost a perfect answer.

A commotion outside the door caused both Matt and Eduardo to turn, before either could stand the door flew open and Diego came running in.

"Matt!" He jumped and landed on his lap, Matt groaning as his foot pushed into his private parts, "I've missed you!" Diego wrapped his arms around his neck and sat happily on his lap.

"I'm sorry Sir, I don't know how…" One of the President's Guards began to apologize.

"No, no that's alright Duncan," He waved it off. "Diego you know better though." He looked at his Grandson.

"I know Abuelo but Papa said you might be in here. I just wanted to see Matt." He lowered his lip.

"No, no Diego," Matt looks at him, "You need to listen to your Abuelo, This is his office and you know he does important things in here. Now you apologize."

"I really am sorry Abuelo," Diego apologized again, "What's my punishment?"

Eduardo knew he should punish the boy, Diego broke a rule, a very important rule but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He was so impressed by Matt's natural parenting abilities.

"I'll tell you what Diego, I know you were excited to see Matt so I'll let you off with a warning this time. But I don't ever want you to sneak in here again. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good, now go and tell everyone we'll be out soon."

Diego knew he was lucky to get away without a punishment so he scurried off.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** Please review.


	10. Sunday

**A\N 1:** First of all my apologizes for the lateness of this chapter, I wanted to take my time writing it and then I sent it to my Beta Reader to edit. Thank you as always to my amazing Beta Reader and to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story. After my Beta Reader edited the story I did add in some things so if you see any mistakes they're mine, my apologizes in advance if there are any.

 **A\N:** My friend on Twitter made me the new Cover image for this story, so a huge thank you to her. Also I'd like to thank the anonymous reviewer who left a review for the previous chapter saying how much my writing has improved. I've really been trying hard to improve my writing with this story and you have no idea how happy your review made me, to think that even one person saw a change means the world to me.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

When Matt first awoke it took him awhile to realize where he was, the room he was in was not his own, nor was it Gabby's. It was painted a neutral shade of grey and he was sleeping in a four-poster queen sized bed. Once he remembered, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was still dark outside and looking at the clock on the bedside table he saw that it wasn't even five in the morning.

Knowing he'd have a hard time getting back to sleep he decided to go for a run. Maybe that would help him clear his mind. Whenever they could he and Gabby usually slept together but Matt didn't dare disrespect her parents wishes and sneak into her bedroom.

Although the previous night had gone all right he was still nervous about he week ahead, meeting all of Gabby's family, although something he was looking forward to terrified him deeply. The thought of all of her family together, talking about politics, something even he was sure even some o the teenagers know more about then he did made his head hurt. How was he going to be able to keep up with everything and not look like a complete fool?

The previous night's dinner however gave him a taste of what the reunion would be like, and for that he was grateful. Dinner consisted of a summer salad, roasted chicken and fresh fruit for desert. Topics of discussion weren't what Matt was expecting and the children's behaviour was certainly not, they were near perfect except Daniela not wanting to eat her tomatos at first. When desert was over Eva asked to be excused and began taking away the dishes, Matt was very much impressed that Eva, Diego and Daniela were expected to clean the table and do the dishes after dinner was over.

Wearing a blue t-shirt and running shorts, and his phone strapped to his arm with his headphones plugged in, Matt stepped out of his room. Not wanting to wake anyone up he walked quietly down the hallway and then down the stairs towards the main level.

As soon as he arrived at the bottom stair a young Secret Service Agent made eye contact with him. "Good morning Sir. May I help you with anything?" He asked.

"Good morning," Matt smiled at the man who he guessed was around his age. He knew the Secret Service Agents walked around the clock. "I was just going to run in the Washington Mall."

"Ah very good Sir," The man nodded, he whispered something into his earpiece as Matt walked away, Matt wondered if he'd be followed or if they just needed to keep tabs on him.

Matt left the White House and walked past the gate, the Secret Service Agent nodding to him as he went.

Matt ran for an hour along the walkways in the National Mall Park. Since there was hardly anybody else there he was also able to get a good view of both the United States Congress and the Washington Monument. He took a few pictures on his phone and then put his music back on. He performed some cool down stretches and noticed that on his way back to the White House the streets were getting a bit busier, it was close to seven thirty so he guessed that people may be out to do errands or go to church.

"I'm sorry Sir," A Secret Service Agent approached Matt as he was walking up to the gate, "Tours don't run on the weekends."

Matt looked at the agent and realized that he was a different one than had been manning the gate when he left, "My name's Matt Casey. I'm Gabriela Dawson's boyfriend. We're staying here for a few days."

Looking him up and down the young agent pondered if the other man was telling the truth, what he said was true, but he could have heard that on the Internet. "I need to see some ID then." He requested.

Matt groaned out, he didn't have any, he never thought he'd need any to get back in. Looking back now he could see that was a mistake. "I don't have any. I do have pictures on my phone though of Gabby and I together. I'm sure you have pictures too."

Not bothering hide his frustration the Secret Service Agent headed back to the booth and began typing on his computer. For a few seconds he looked from his computer to Matt and back again, "I'm sorry but I need to confirm your identity with ID. If you don't have any I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Not wanting to get on Secret Services' bad side Matt nodded and stepped away. He walked back to the sidewalk where it was getting busier with tourists. He got out his cell phone and called Gabby.

Hearing her phone ring Gabby quickly finished outing on her shorts and answered it, quickly glancing at the screen, "Hey Babe. I'm just getting up. Want me to meet you outside of your room. Then we can go and get some breakfast."

"Well actually…" Matt let out a chuckle, "I'm kind of stuck outside?"

"What?" Gabby's eyes jumped in surprise, "What happened?" She walked to the door and opened it and motioned for one of her Secret Service agents to come.

"I woke up earlier and went for a run. I got back and the Agent at the desk says since I don't have ID he can't let me in, they have nothing to check my picture against."

"Ugh," Gabby ran a hand over her face. She wasn't sure who she was madder at, herself for not explaining to Matt he always needed to carry ID, or the guard who wasn't letting him onto the grounds. "Alright I'll come down."

"Are you sure they're lots of tourists around already." Matt knew she didn't like having her picture taken that much. Almost everyone around him was taking pictures on their phones and if Gabby came out they'd surely notice, within half an hour her picture would be all over the Internet.

Gabby realised he was right, the last thing she wanted was for Alex to come here looking for her, "Right, right well I'll just send someone to come and get you." She told him. "I'll be waiting in the main entrance."

"Alright," He nodded and waited until she was off the line. He walked back to the main gate and tried not to notice the agent looking at him. He didn't want to say anything to him; afraid he'd call the police on him.

"Sir I told you-" He stepped out of the booth and walked towards him.

"Agent Barnes!" Gabby's head Secret Service Agent shouted as he fast walked towards the gate, "Do you know who he is?" He looked at the younger agent, he face red with anger. Matt felt sorry for the young agent, remembering what it was like as a Candidate, always getting yelled at and blamed for things.

The younger agent seemed flustered and stammered, "Well he said he-"

"He is Matthew Casey. I know you're just following orders but you could have looked through his phone! Seen The First Daughter's number!" He reprimanded his underling. "If you want to keep this job and especially if you want to get onto a protection detail you need to do these things!"

The Junior Agent flushed red and nodded, "Sorry Sir," He turned to look at Matt. It was only his third week on the job, and he had already made a big mistake, he felt horrible.

"That's alright," He didn't want to mention he'd said the Agent could look at his phone, "I know you were only trying to protect Gabby. No hard feelings." Matt outstretched his hand for the other man to shake.

"Thank you."

Matt followed Agent Ford onto the grounds, when they were almost at the entrance he turned to the older man, "If you can help it please don't punish him too much. He barely looks out of college. This is a huge job; he didn't inconvenience me that much. I don't want him punished on my account.

Agent Ford nodded his head. At first he wasn't so sure that he'd like Matthew Casey, didn't think he and Gabby would be good together, with every passing day though he liked the younger man more and more. It was clear he cared very deeply for Gabby and he was smart and kind as well.

"I wasn't going to mention anything Mr. Casey, I'm glad you're not to upset though."

"No, no like I said I get it. I'm glad Gabby and everyone else is safe here, it makes me worry about her a little less. I know Gabby's worst nightmare is for something to happen to her brother or father and I couldn't bear to see what that would do to her.

Agent Ford only nodded his head; he understood the fear Gabby had and unfortunately knew that it could come true. Everyday her father and brother got hate mail or death threats against them, all of them were filed and investigated but one day of them could come true. There were ways of getting close enough to one of them to kill, or with all of the new technology be far away and just call a phone to set off a bomb.

Matt followed Agent Ford into the downstairs entrance to the White House where Gabby was waiting. She was wearing a pair of light blue jean shorts and a light pink t-shirt. The light colours contrasting with her dark skin tone perfectly; her hair was done in two braids and she was wearing a headband as well.

"Good Morning," Gabby walked up to him and stood on her tippy toes to kiss him, "You know it is kind of funny you got locked out," She smiled at him after their lips had parted. "Maybe my Dad did it on purpose!" She joked.

"Ha-ha," He rolled his eyes. "I thought he did for a few seconds!"

Gabby punched his arm, "He really likes you!" She wrapped an arm around him. His forehead and face were still drenched in sweat and the sight was making her heart race go faster.

"Did he say that?" Matt asked her eagerly, wanting more then anything for her father to like him, "Or are you just assuming." He looked down at her and tilted his head to one side.

"Well considering he didn't post guards outside your bedroom door he at least trusts you," She pointed out, "Us not sleeping in the same room doesn't mean he doesn't like you. My parents are very traditional."

"No, I know that. So do they go to church today?" He wondered, he wasn't expecting to see her dressed like that, not that he was complaining.

"They'd like to but it would be too much of a security risk and a distraction if they went. Sunday's are just usually a family day. Antonio. Laura and the kids should be here soon. In the meantime we can have some breakfast and relax." She eyed him and smiled. He was still in his running gear and it was turning her on in the worst way, her want for him was very strong.

Matt was about to whisper something in her ear when they were interrupted.

"MATT!" Diego ran through the doors and straight to Matt, "Can you go swimming with me?" He looked up at him and asked hopefully.

Matt laughed a little as Gabby had thought they'd have some time to themselves, "Of course buddy." He lifted Diego up and settled up on his hip, "Have you already eaten breakfast?" He wondered. Diego was in shorts and a t-shirt, his black hair sticking up all over the place.

"Yolanda made strawberry pancakes." Diego answered, "I ate them but Daniela cried and had a temper tantrum." He further explained, "So you can spend all day with me."

"Oh no Diego," Antonio walked up to him shaking his head, "We talked about this. Matt isn't here only to play with you. He and Tia Gabby need some time alone time together."

To no avail Antonio and Laura had tried to explain to Diego that although it was good he liked Matt he couldn't be with him all the time. It was especially hard for Antonio because he knew Diego's attachment to Matt stemmed from not spending early was much time with him. More than anything Antonio wished he could spend more time with his family but he was always so busy with work and the kids were growing up so fast, pretty soon Diego wouldn't want to spend any time with him.

He had an idea that perhaps Diego could start going with him on some events and places he went to, not only would they be able to spend more time together but Diego would learn a lot, and Antonio had enough security to keep him safe.

Eva who was looking down at her cell phone looked up briefly, a smirk on her face. "Why Dad, if they're alone they'll just be making out. Do you want that to happen?"

"Watch it young lady!" Antonio turned to her, "And put that phone away. You'll be spending all week with Madelyn. Today you both need to spend some time with your family. Like most children her age Eva was attached to her cell phone, hardly going ten minutes without going on it.

"She is my cousin Dad," Eva rolled her eyes, "Besides I'm talking to my other friends too."

"Eva Dawson if you keep talking back I-"

"Leave it alone Antonio," Laura interrupted her husband. She knew an argument with Eva would just cause more problems. "You want to deal with a problem child go get Daniela out of the car. She's yelling at all of the Secret Service Agents right now." Laura informed her husband as she carried Santiago into the house. At the sight of Gabby seven month old Santiago smiled and giggled and waved his hands and arms around.

Antonio shook his head and walked back out towards the SUV to get his three year old. Daniela was having a very bad morning and it didn't look to be getting any better.

"Matt! Matt!" Diego pulled on Matt's shirt, "Can we go swimming now?" He wanted to go before his younger siblings stole all of the attention, he felt so left out a lot of the times. Eva got to do way more than he did because she was older but he had to act more grown-up and not as young as Daniela. And he certainly wasn't as cute as Santiago he always managed to steal the attention.

"Let me have some breakfast first buddy," Matt put him on the ground, "Go and play for a bit alright. I'm, sure you have lots of toys here."

"He does," Esmeralda, answered, "Come on Diego you let Matt have some air. I know you like him, we all do all right. But you need to learn you can't always have what you want. Come with me and help me get breakfast ready."

"All right Abuela," Diego walked to her. He liked helping out with breakfast, his Abuela let him do more than his nanny Yolanda or his parents ever did.

Diego walked over to her and took her hand, she began to walk up the stairs with him, seeing Eva was still texting away on her phone she stopped and turned her head. "Come on Eva!" She called over her shoulders to her granddaughter, "And put that phone away now or I'll take it from you. And believe me I might not give it back if I take it!" She warned.

Knowing her Abuela was serious in her threat Eva tucked her phone into her pocket and picked up her pace to follow her Abuela and brother. They walled up the stairs and out of sight.

"Here Laur," Gabby stepped forward with her arms open, "I'll take Santiago from you. You go and relax." She reached out for her young nephew.

Laura took Santiago out of his car seat and handed him over. "No, I still have Daniela to worry about. She's testing limits I swear," She ran a hand over her face, "She's so jealous of Santiago and it is only getting worse. I don't know what to do."

"Hey, hey," Gabby soothed, she didn't like seeing anyone this stressed out let alone her family. "You'll figure it out. You're a great mother." She knew times were tough but she believed Antonio and Laura would get through it. Other then her parents they had the stronger marriage she'd ever seen.

"Sometimes I don't feel like one," She admitted. "I see Yolanda with the kids and it just makes me even more angry. She's so good with them and she knows them better then I do! Someone else is raising my own kids and I just hate it! I know we need one because I have so much to do but I just wish… I just wish I had more time to spend with then, I hate seeing them with her sometimes." She complained. What bugged her the most was that Yolanda was so good at her job; she was very qualified and had been with the family s their nanny since Diego was born. The kids loved her. She couldn't fire her just because she was feeling jealous; this wasn't the first time she was feeling like this and she knew it wouldn't be the last.

"NO! DADDY! NO!" Daniela kicked and screamed as Antonio carried her into the house. Her shirt was off and she was in the process of pulling down her shorts. Her face was red from crying and her hair was un brushed and very messy, it was clear she hadn't had a good morning.

"Daniela that's enough!" Antonio looked at her sternly, "Now you need to behave." He wasn't going to tolerate any hitting or kicking no matter no matter what.

"NO!" She kicked him and screamed, "NO! NO! NO!

"Antonio," Laura saw Santiago was starting to get fussy, "Take her somewhere else. I-" She was too late. Santiago screamed as loud as his little lungs would allow. With both Daniela and Santiago crying Gabby let Laura take Santiago and took Matt away.

Gabby would have stayed to help but she knew that sometimes it was better to just let Laura and Antonio deal with things on there own. Santiago was probably hungry and if Daniela were being this difficult she'd likely not respond to her either.

Gabby led Matt to an empty sitting room and closed the doors, sighing she looked at Matt and kissed him deeply, "I missed you so much last night," She told him. She moved her hands slowly up and down his shirt grinning as he moaned.

"I missed you too," Matt placed one hand on her hip and another on her face, he caressed her cheek, "You look so beautiful," He kissed her again, "I don't know how I'm going to keep things PG over the next week."

"Me neither," She kissed him again, "But I was thinking that next week instead of staying here we could stay in a hotel. My parents are going to be gone anyways and we'll be able to make up for lost time that way." She looked at him her eyes twinkling with mischievousness."

"Perfect," He kissed her running his hands under her shirt.

"Matt!" She moaned, "We both know we can't start anything." She looked at him and sighed, "No matter how much I want too."

"I know," Matt kissed her one last time before leading her out of the room. They walked back to the main hallway to find everyone had left.

"They're probably upstairs," Gabby took Matt's hand and led him up to the First Family living quarters. Sure enough she was right.

The private living quarters consisted of all of the main bedrooms, plus two guest ones and a sitting area, used mostly as a family room for the Dawson family. In a separate room off of the living room was a kitchen with brand new appliances. Esmeralda was a hard-core baker and cook, so she took it upon herself to update the kitchen that she felt was in desperate need of a makeover. She'd had the walls painted a greyish blue and gotten granite floors. A breakfast nook with five stools were put in as well as the new appliances.

Daniela was for the moment eating cereal as Laura did her hair into braids. A baby monitor on the table told Gabby Santiago was sleeping again somewhere nearby. "Sorry I wasn't any help downstairs." She saw the stare Laura sent her way.

"No, no I'm not mad at you," She clarified, "Just tired and stressed out in general. You were probably right to leave this one is being a real monkey today," She kissed Daniela's head, "You're going to act like a big girl now right?"

"I try Mommy!" Daniela promised stuffing her face with jam-covered toast.

"You know what," Gabby sat down next to her niece, "If you're a good girl for the rest of the day next week I'll hang out with you for one day. We can go anywhere you want."

"Arendalle!" She yelled, referring to the home of Elsa and Anna from the Disney movie Frozen.

Gabby laughed, "We can go anywhere that's real, and not to Europe either," She knew the three year old had been before, "Or Disney." She added.

Daniela looked at her aunt; she was confused, she didn't understand at all. She got to go somewhere with her aunt but not anywhere she wanted to go.

"How about a special day with Tia Gabby," Laura suggested as she poured more milk into Daniela's cup, "Drink this milk and finish up your cereal and then you can go and play." Laura told her daughter.

"Mom!" Diego walked into the family residence kitchen, "Abuela took away Eva's cell phone and Eva threw a major temper tantrum!" Sitting down at the table he started to laugh. "It was great."

"Diego you know not to tattle." Laura stopped what she was doing; she took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over her mouth. She loved in in-laws but they were very traditional and as such had very traditional ways of dealing with disciplining the children. She wished that they'd respect her wishes. "What did your sister do?" Laura inquired. To stop herself from speaking out she kept busy by whipping down the counters.

"She was sitting on the couch texting and Abuela asked her a question and she didn't answer. When Abuela asked her again she looked up and sighed and said she was texting. Abuela got so angry it was so funny!"

Knowing her sister in-law would want to deal this in private she turned to her nephew and said, "Hey buddy how about we go swimming now? Matt and I are almost finished eating. Go and get your swimsuit on all right. Fill up a bag with your sunscreen and get your life jacket."

"I don't want to wear my life jacket!" Diego pouted. Wearing it made him feel like a baby and that was something he certainly was not.

"You only need to wear it if you want to go into the deep end," Laura informed her son, she squeezed the bridge of her nose as she thought about how she was going to deal with the conflict between Eva and her mother in-law.

Climbing up into a chair Diego looked at Matt, "Matt do I have to wear one?"

Before Matt had a chance to answer Gabby frowned at the boy, "Diego stop pitting people against each other. It's not nice. You need to listen to your mother. Or do you not want to go swimming?" Gabby was tired of Diego being able to talk his way out of things, she figured it would serve him well in his future career in law or politics. She however did not want him to use it to get out of trouble now her brother and sister in-law already had their hands full with a seven month old and Eva acting up, they didn't need Diego to cause problems as well.

"You heard your aunt Diego, go and get changed!" Matt ordered he did his best to look angry with the boy.

"Yes Sir!" Diego nodded and scurried off.

Seeing the tension in the room growing Matt put Daniela in his lap, "You all finished sweetheart? Why don't we go and get you into your bathing suit too?" He helped her wipe off her face and hands. Putting the cloth on the table he made her braids would hold up in the water, at first glance they appeared fine. When Gabby looked at him and nodded he knew they didn't need to be taken out.

"Okay Matt," Daniela nodded, she climbed down from his lap and then stood on he tippy-toes to get her plate, being careful not to drop it she carried it to her mother. "Here Mommy."

"Thank you Daniela," Laura took the plate, "You make sure you listen to Matt and Tia Gabby alright? You behave and remember you keep your life jacket on all the time in the water or you come out."

"That's right Daniela," Gabby echoed, "Now come on."

Daniela took her aunt's hand and left the kitchen, she went ahead of Gabby and Matt to the room she was staying in. Passing Secret Service Agents she smiled as they smiled at her.

At three years old she didn't really understand her grandfather's job, or her father's job for that matter. She was unaware of the danger she was in and how much security was on her constantly. All she knew was that her Abuelo ran the country and lots of people worked for him. She liked his job because he lived in a big house and everyone was nice to her.

Lowering his voice as they walked Matt turned to Gabby, "I'm sensing some hostility between Laura and your mother." He sensed that she wanted to talk about it but wasn't sure how she felt about it or what side she was on. If he was a big feud he wanted to know how best to stay out of it.

"My parents are very traditional, they hear Eva talk back and think she's not being punished for what she says. Their methods worked all right on me, I had a rebellious phase. Back then though it was easier, now with her cell phone and social media it's harder raising a teenager, especially one like Eva. She's smart, she reads things and knows what's going on. Laura and Antonio do discipline her, they have they talk about this with her and expect her to know the rules and limits and she does get grounded," Gabby took a deep breath and continued. "My parents would prefer she have her cell phone taken away or smacked…. Laura doesn't approve of that and Antonio's just trying to play the peacemaker."

Matt nodded; it made sense that with the age and cultural gap that there would be disagreements in that regard, "It must be hard on you."

"It is. I do see it from both sides. Now don't get me wrong my parents adore Laura and my mother thinks of her as a daughter. It is just that sometimes my mother can be a bit overbearing and controlling even though she means well."

Up ahead Daniela ran into a room and disappeared, she came out a few seconds later carrying a pink backpack with blue and yellow hearts. Attached to the backpack was a pink and purple life vest "My bathing suit is in here!"

"Well alright let's go into your room and get you changed." Gabby told her. "Matt you go get your bathing suit on and then come back here. I should have Daniela all finished by then."

"Alright," Matt nodded, he left and turned a corner to walk towards the room he was staying in. Half an hour later Daniela and Diego were getting into the pool, Matt and Gabby behind them.

The pool was located in the private residence gardens, it was beautifully landscaped with a long glass tabletop and chairs and five lounge chairs. In the shallow water there was a waterfall hand-carved with rock and granite and at the deep end there was a diving board.

"Matt! Matt! Matt!" Diego waved his arms around, jumping up and down. "Watch this Watch me!" He swam under the water and held his breath. After five seconds he reemerged and grinned, "Did you see that?"

"Yeah buddy I did," Matt confirmed, he had been watching the boy while Gabby was playing with Daniela nearby, "That's great you can hold your breath for so long. What else can you do?"

Thrilled that he got to show-off Diego began listing off things he'd learnt in swim class, "I know how to do a front-crawl a back-crawl and I can almost dive in deep water!"

"Wow that's impressive bud!" It was great that at eight he was already so familiar with the water. "What did you want to do? Do you want to play a game or just swim?

"Can you throw me into the water?" Diego asked, he began to swim towards Matt.

Once Diego was beside him Matt responded, "Go and get your life jacket on and I will."

Diego nodded, he got out and put his life jacket on and then returned. Matt picked him up and tossed him into the deep end, Diego howling with laughter. He swam back towards Matt and climbed on his back, hanging from it he laughed as Matt tried to shake him free,

"Oh no! Oh no! There's something on my back!" Matt play-acted swinging from side to side, "But I can't find Diego!"

"Matt!" Diego laughed. He jumped from Matt's back and swam so he was facing him, "That was pretty funny! Let's box," He put his arms up into the starting boxing stance.

"I don't know Diego," Matt shook his head. He didn't want to hurt the boy; also he wasn't sure if Diego would be better than he was.

Gabby swam up to Diego and picked him up causing her nephew to laugh, "It's my turn to swim with you now!" She began tickling him and he continued to laugh.

"Well then I guess I get to swim with Daniela," Matt picked up the young girl and held her.

Watching from the garden Eduardo smiled. He still had his doubts and concerns about Matt but it was clear he loved Gabby very much. What was also clear was how much he loved Gaby and what an excellent father he'd make one day.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and let me know.

 **Up Next:** Matt and Gabby arrive at Camp David for the reunion. How will Matt fare with meeting her family?


	11. Camp David: Introductions

**A\N:** Thank you so much to all of you who have been reading and reviewing it means so much to me. Here is the chapter so many of you have been waiting for, I hope it does not disappoint. I have to give a huge thank you to my beta reader who edited this chapter for me, and my two friends on Twitter, one who wrote some scenes for me to use in this chapter and the other one for always being there to support and help me.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warnings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

"Hey Daniela, want to do me a favour?" Gabby was standing outside of Matt's bedroom. She was already dressed for the day and she saw that Daniela was as well. "Go into Matt's bedroom and wake him up. Can you do that for me?"

"Uh-huh!" Daniela nodded her head, she opened the door and ran into the room, She jumped onto Matt's bed and started bouncing, "Matt! Matt! Matt! I had pancakes; guess what-" She plopped down right on Matt's chest.

Not used to being startled awake it took Matt a few seconds to adjust. He sat up carefully making sure Daniela didn't fall, "What sweetie?" He kissed her cheek.

"Abuela makes strawberry pancakes!" She finished her story, "Come on!" She tugged his hand. "Come on!"

"I think Matt needs time to wake up sweetheart," Gabby walked into the room, "You go and play alright," She picked her niece up and put her on the ground. She sat down on Matt's bed and couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sorry I sent her in but…." She kissed him on the lips. "I thought it would be funny," She laughed just a little, "We need to be downstairs in two hours."

Matt had set his phone alarm to go off in half an hour, thinking that was enough time to get ready. He'd guessed he wouldn't have a good sleep and he was right. He'd tossed and turned a lot thinking about the week ahead. He wanted, _needed,_ to impress Gabby's family, family meant everything to her.

"You'll be fine," Gabby assured him. She could ready his emotions and she knew he was inwardly stressing out, "You're great with kids, that's going to mean a lot okay? Now get dressed and come and try to eat some breakfast. My Mom's pancakes are amazing.

Matt loved that even though the family had world-class chefs at their disposal Gabby's mother still cooked and baked. To him that really showed him what the family was all about, even though they were rich and powerful it hadn't really affected them, at least not in any ways Matt had seen.

Walking hand-in-hand Matt and Gabby entered the family kitchen and dinning area. Sitting at the table were the kids Laura and Antonio who was talking to his father about something on the previous night.

"Matt!" Diego jumped off his chair and ran to hug him, "I saved you a seat right beside me!" He tugged at his hand and pulled him towards the table. "Come and sit down."

"I think Tia Gabby wants to sit next to Matt Diego," Eduardo informed his grandson, "You and Eva go and take your milk and watch TV. Jonathan, make sure they don't watch the news, something appropriate."

"Yes Sir," The Secret Service Agent nodded his head as he led the children out of the room.

Gabby looked between her father and brother silently begging them not to interrogate Matt or ask him to many hard questions, which would only make him more nervous about the week.

"So Matt," Eduardo turned to look at the younger man as he sat down at the table, Gabby sitting beside him, "Tell me about your relationship with my daughter. Are you treating her right? Her Secret Service team like you but I think despite the fact they work for me, they're loyal to Gabriela." He'd long suspected this but it didn't; bother him. He wanted to believe if something truly bad ever happened to her they'd tell him.

"Gabby is the greatest woman I've ever met. She's generous, smart and extremely stubborn which at times I know is a problem but- it just makes her even more amazing at her job. She loves children and it really shines through her. We both want children in the future and in the future after I ask your permission of course I'd like to marry her."

Gabby turned and kissed Matt on the lips.

"Ew!" Daniela threw her hands over her eyes in protest. "May I go please?" She asked. She hadn't left with her older brother and sister because Eduardo didn't think she was able to sit on the couch and eat properly.

"Yes you're excused. Put your dishes in the sink,' Antonio told her. He watched his daughter clean her plate and so as he was told and leave the kitchen. He turned to look at Matt, "I don't know if you know this but I was a Detective for a few years before getting into politics. I know the job can be dangerous. You don't know if you can come home. "Would to risk your life knowing you'd leave Gabby?"

"Antonio!" Gabby exclaimed, looking angrily at her older brother. They both knew that as a Detective and as a uniformed officer he'd out himself in harms way even though he had Laura and children to think about.

"It's okay Gabby," Matt assure her, he took a few minutes to gather his thoughts. He knew what he wanted to say but he didn't know how to say it, finally after a ten-minunte silence he spoke, "The job is dangerous and I love my job but I care a lot for Gabby. I would never want to hurt her but I can't guarantee anything."

"Understandable, Eduardo nodded his head. He was feeling confident now that Matt wasn't just dating Gabby because of her last name. He truly cared for her and it showed. Gabby was still his baby though and there were a lot more questions he waned to ask him.

* * *

The SUV followed the others as it turned off the highway and turned onto a country road, on either side of the road were rows of trees. As they drove Matt saw signs warning that this was private property, as they got closer Matt saw a sign that now claimed it was a restricted zone and all unauthorized vehicles would be fined. After passing a sign saying 'Camp David', the SUV turned again and now went up a dirt country road.

A few miles up the road, they stopped at a gate and after only a brief, few minutes the gates were opened. It was then that Matt began to get nervous.

Matt looked at Gabby and took her hand, "Tell me again how much your family already likes me." He turned to look at her and tried to feed off her excitement, it was clear she was looking forward to this week away. "Who is going to be here now?"

Gabby gently brushed her lips against his cheek, pulling away she squeezed his hand, "My parents should be here. The helicopter is faster than the cars." Gabby's parents had traveled in a helicopter as it was safer and more secure than an SUV. "This was a security nightmare for the Secret Service so they had staggered arrival times. I'm not sure who will be here."

The SUV came to a stop and Matt looked out the window to see a beautiful luxury cottage. It was a beige colour and in front of the entrance were tall trees. The door on Gabby's side opened and Gabby took her purse and stood to exit, Matt following.

In the distance, children's laughter and screams of delight could be heard signaling that others were already there. "We can go and put our luggage away and then go explore," Gabby told Matt. She collected her suitcases as they were being unloaded but Matt got them first.

"I'll take them. You can take the lighter bags." He told her.

Gabby had always hated being treated as if she could not do things just because she was a woman, she'd always argued with all of her previous boyfriends when they as so much as held the door open for her. It was different with Matt, she didn't know why, she told herself it wasn't simply because he had rock hard abs and shoulders that she loved to stare at. He lifted up her suitcases and it was clear he worked out regularly.

"Focus Gabby," She scolded herself, snapping her eyes open and closed she took the lighter bags and followed Matt toward the house. The front door opened and Felix Goodman, her father's Chief of Staff exited. Felix was a man in his late thirties who had come highly qualified for his job with a law degree and having worked for Senators in Washington for a few years.

"Ms. Dawson, Mr. Casey," He walked towards them, "Here is a copy of the main house key," He handed it to Gabby, "And here are itineraries for the week along with your bedroom assignment," He handed them both a clipboard. "Your parents are on the back porch along with your Uncle Andrew and cousins Rafael and Stella. Do you have any questions?"

Matt had a pile of questions, first one being what 'uncle' Andrew was, and the last one being why he and Gabby appeared to be sharing a room. What had happened since a day ago at the White House that made her parents lift their ban? He wasn't complaining, he slept better with Gabby curled into him, he was just curious.

He walked with Gabby into the living room of the cottage and was immediately marvelled by the beautiful design, not that he had been expecting anything less. The walls were painted a very light brown and the living room contained family pictures, a black couch, and a flat screen TV.

"This is gorgeous," Gabby sighed contently. "I was here for Easter Weekend but I didn't get to explore all of the grounds." She took Matt's hand and led him down a hallway. The doors were all closed but had sticky notes on them indicating what they were. Matt saw that unsurprisingly Gabby's parents were staying in the main cottage, along with them the other sticky notes said that Laura and Antonio were in a room, Diego, and Daniela in another.

Gabby opened the door to the last room on the left that had their names on it. The room was simple, with two single beds, a TV, and a closet. She turned to Matt who was still standing out of the room. She walked up to him and kissed him on the lips, "I'm not afraid of my parents Matt."

"Well that makes one of us." He broke apart from her, "Gabby," He ran a hand through his hair, "I'm not….I just want this weekend to go perfect."

"Perfect isn't really the right word," Gabby pulled him inside and shut the door, "I should have told you this before but now's a good time."

"What?" Matt didn't like the tone she was using, "What's wrong?"

"Stella and her parents…they don't get along very well. They tolerate each other and Stella would do anything to please them but her parents, her father especially are still angry with her for having Madeline. When she told them she was pregnant, her father disowned her for almost two years. Stella had to graduate law school all on her own. She worked three jobs while in school to pay for tuition. She had some trouble staying on top of coursework so it took her a bit longer to graduate but she did. She got a great internship at a prestige law firm in New York all on her own, without her father's help. She decided to run for Senate against her father's wishes and won. She's raised Madeline all on her own."

"Oh," Matt could never imagine not wanting anything to do with your child's life, then again he supposed Stella's father would have been worried about his 'image' in Matt's mind though that wasn't an excuse for what he did.

"My Tio Andrew is even more old-fashioned then my father if you can believe that. He's two years older than my father is. Anyways…." She got back on track, "Stella's always been attracted to bad boys but Maddie's father, he's well he was a drug dealer and murderer, he's in prison now for life. Maddie only just found out last year when she did a search on the Internet. So that's part of the reason why Maddie and Stella are at odds."

"How are Stella's parents now? I mean they've obviously come to come kind of agreement." Matt concluded, the fact that they were all here told him that.

"When Maddie was almost two years old Stella's mother dropped by unexpectedly and broke down into tears saying they should have been there for her. They talked it out I guess. Stella's never really explained it all to me. Her father and her are civil to each other but have never really gone back to way things were. Don't think my Uncle's not a good person, he is, for the most part he is, he's just a proud and religious man, but he loves Maddie as much s he can and often spoils her."

"To make up for not being there for Stella," Matt guessed, "Thanks for telling me before I said something,"

"You're welcome, you ready now?"

"No," He answered honestly. Gabby took his hand anyways and led him out of the room, back out of the cottage, and towards the back porch.

"Gabriela, Matt," Esmeralda stood upon seeing them, "There are drinks in the kitchen and some sandwiches in the fridge if you're hungry help yourself."

Before either Gabby or Matt had time to explain Diego rushed dup the steps and into Matt, "Hi Matt! Do you want to see my bike? We brought it and I can ride it here! Let's go and ride it!"

"Diego!" Laura narrowed her eyes at the seven year old, "We talked about this Matt can't spend all this weekend with you. He's here to meet everyone. You already know him."

"Then come and meet, Rachel, Nicholas, Gavin, Olivia, Elliot, David and William," He looked over to where seven other kids were playing soccer. "Sara, Maddie and Eva are texting cute boys," He added looking at his sister and making a face.

"Shut up Diego!" Eva yelled without looking up from her phone, "I can still hear you, you little creep!"

"Alright Diego," Matt looked down at the boy, "You go and play and I'll be there soon." He promised. It wasn't an empty promise either; he had every intention on playing with Diego later.

"Awe," Diego pouted as he kicked the deck and turned around. He stood there for a second before catching his parents' disapproving looks. He then decided it would be better if he went back and played.

"We did talk to him Matt," Laura promised as he and Gabby walked over to the long table that was set up on the wooden deck, "He just really likes you."

"He's a good kid, really smart," Matt smiled. He wasn't just saying that, he really did like spending time with Diego.

"Well then he got it from Laura," Stella stopped talking to her brother and joined the conversation.

"Very funny," Antonio didn't even bother to look at his cousin. After spending so much time with her, he was used to her sense of humor.

"Matt, you know Stella, this is her twin brother Rafael, he's a New York Senator and his wife Lucy, and this is Karen, Stella and Rafael's younger sister, and this is her husband Martin." Gabby began making introductions, "And this is my Tio Andrew and Tia Amelia."

Matt shook hands with Rafael and Lucy and turned to their father. Andrew had graying hair but Matt could tell he was a serious man, "It's very nice to meet you Mr. Secretary of State Sir," He let the out of mouthful of a title and made eye-contact.

"I've heard a lot about you Son. I hear you're a firefighter." His grip was strong and firm. He looked Matt up and down as if evaluating him, and that's just how Matt felt. He had a feeling other than her father this was the man Matt needed to impress.

"Yes Sir. I'm a Lieutenant; I lead a Truck Company out of a busy firehouse in Chicago. I love my job."

"Hm," Andrew looked at his younger brother, Gabby's father Eduardo and they appeared to share a look. "Would you like to sit here with us or go and play with the kids?"

Matt was sure that this was a test, he just wish he knew what the right answer was. Were they hoping he'd stay and be with Gabby and get to know them, would going to play with the kids make him appear as though he was running away? Did they want him to play with the kids, would that show he was compassionate and caring? He looked to Gabby for advice but all she offered was a supportive look. That wasn't what he needed right now. He wanted her to say something to prompt him to the right answer, although if he did that, it might not look like he could handle all of this, and that wasn't what he wanted.

"Mom, Dad Gavin said my goal didn't count!" Diego came running up to his parents and frowned, "He's just being a really bad loser! I'm better at soccer than he is."

Seven-year-old Gavin frowned as he walked up to stand beside the other boy, "You didn't wait until I said I was ready. That's how we always play at home."

"Well that's wrong!" Diego yelled.

"Hey," Karen, Stella, and Rafael's younger sister looked at her son, "You know that there are different ways to play sports. You need to play nice."

"Diego's too competitive," Gavin scoffed.

"Am not!" Diego argued back. He was though in fact very competitive, just like Antonio was.

"Hey," Matt looked at Diego, "How about you go and show me your bike now. Does Gavin have his bike here too? Maybe he wants to come."

"I do, everyone does," Gavin told him.

"Most of the older kids have their bikes here," Esmeralda informed Matt.

"Well then we can all go, come on," Matt offered his hands to the boys, "Let's go, and tell the other kids.

"I can run faster than you Gavin!" Diego challenged.

"No, I can!" Gavin began running.

"Sound familiar," Stella looked at her twin brother and then to Antonio, "You two were just like that growing up! Always competing over everything."

"Yeah well we're friends now," Antonio informed her.

"No we're not," Rafael, teased him lightly causing all of the adults to laugh.

Antonio's cell phone buzzed in his pocket and he hesitated at first as to if he should pick it up or not. His father had a rule about not doing any business during family time. However just this past week a very wealthy Chicago executive had approached Antonio, he'd made him a deal that was going to be hard to turn down. Antonio figured his aides or advisors were calling him. Excusing himself, he stood and took the call.

Eduardo wasn't upset at his son, at least not outwardly. Antonio was a grown man and he had to make his own choices. He had learnt over the years that you couldn't get to involved in your work, but sometimes it was hard when the work was so demanding. Antonio was an overachiever and he wanted to please everyone, which made him get too involved in his work sometimes. Eduardo knew he could and needed to be spending more time with his family.

"Everything okay?" Rafael asked Laura as she took a drink. He knew his best friend and it would have to be something very big if Antonio would break his sacred father's rule. Antonio really looked up to his father and very much respected him and they had a great relationship. It made Rafael a bit jealous that he didn't share the same bond with his own father.

"I don't know," Laura ran a hand over her face and stood; taking Santiago in her arms, she followed her husband into the house. Hearing voices, she followed him into the dining room where he was pacing back and forth, as he listened to his chief of staff. She walked into the room, leaned against the wall, and listened. She wasn't going to let Antonio lie to her; he knew she liked to be involved in things as much as she could. She did this because she wanted to help and because deep down she was always worried about another woman coming in and stealing Antonio away. Surely, he'd had multiple offers to have an affair but she hoped he had never taken a woman up on any of them.

"What was that about?" Laura wondered Antonio ended the call. She walked further into the room and approached him, He looked stressed out.

"Nothing Babe," He didn't want to tell her, he knew what she'd say. He knew the right thing to do would be not to accept but the money would help him in his campaign for re-election in two years. His approval ratings were high and he was well loved within the state of Illinois but now that his father was President it would be harder to be re-elected he feared, people wouldn't want him in the Senate if he would just do what his father wanted.

"What was it Antonio?" She repeated the question with more force.

He sighed, knowing she would not let it go, "On Wednesday Simon Richardson came to my office."

"The Simon Richardson? The one who owns Richard's clothing stores? She asked him, those were huge stores, and they had started in Chicago but were now all over the world. They had good bargains but fancier things as well. Laura loved shopping there for clothes, shoes, things for the kids and even kitchen supplies, the only thing they didn't have were groceries.

"Yeah. There is this bill my Dad wants passed that will make it hard for manufactures to underpay workers in other countries and sell them in the U.S. I support the bill but… he doesn't and he says if I can get other Senators not vote on it, he'll give me a huge donation for the re-election. He has the Republicans but since we have the majority he needs Democrats too."

"So you want to go against something you believe in for money?" She clarified, she knew this was politics and Antonio had to play dirty but this seemed really low. "And you'd be going against your father. You cannot be okay with this! You can get lots of donors without this deal Antonio." She feared that her husband taking this deal would not end well, at least not for him. Instead of helping him get re-elected it would hurt his chances significantly.

"I didn't say I was okay with it. That's why I don't know what to do. It's going to be really hard for me to be re-elected you know that, even if I am doing a good job. This money and his endorsement could help me a lot!"

"Well then it looks like you've already made up your mind." She turned to leave without another word.

* * *

Over the next two hours, everyone arrived at Camp David and got settled in. At three thirty Gabby pulled Matt away from supervising kids riding their bikes and pulled him aside.

"Having fun?" She looked over his shoulder to see kids riding on the trails near the middle of the campground.

"Yeah. Sorry I was away for so long. Figured you could catch up with everyone," He wasn't lying completely; he knew she did need to catch up with everyone. On the other hand though he'd been somewhat avoiding meeting the other adults, he felt safer with the kids.

"Uh-huh," She kissed him, "Well now everyone's here and you need to meet people. You need any help with names? Or occupations?"

"No I know all the names, and your Uncle's jobs." He responded, "You know most of your little cousins are very polite. They could teach most kids a lot."

"Well that's what private school and nannies and strict parents teach you. All of my cousins go to private school and some of the have live-in nannies. All of them though have been raised to respect adults. Now come on," She took his hand and led him back up the path.

Up ahead Matt saw Eva, Sara, and Madeline watching with fascination as an older girl talked to one of the Navy Guards stationed around the campgrounds. Camp David was run by the Navy and guarded by them at all times but on this occasion more were needed, and this was most definitely one of those times.

As Gabby and Matt got closer to was clear the older girl who appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen was flirting with the young guard who appeared to be around her age.

"Rebecca!" Gabby called out causing the girl to back away and blush, "Let him do his job."

"Gabby," She sounded surprised, "I wasn't-I was just talking to him." She stuttered. "Maddie and Eva and Sara were the ones who flirted with him. Can you tell them to stop following me around?"

"Okay, everyone just stop for a second," Gabby took a deep breath, "Rebecca, I know you know better than to do all of this. You stay here all right. Maddie, Sara, Eva go find something productive to do."

The three younger girls left albeit very annoyed.

"Thank you," Rebecca shied, "I kept asking them to leave me alone, but they wouldn't."

"I remember a certain young girl always following me around, copying whatever I did, whatever I said. Do you remember that? I was so tired of you so many times."

Rebecca did remember a few occasions when she'd follow Gabby around; she just thought Gabby was so cool. She hadn't gone into politics even though her family had wanted her to, and to Rebecca she always seemed to have the coolest clothes and the cutest boyfriends too.

"They just look up to you, You know you need to be a good role model, especially to Maddie and even Eva, Eva's starting to copy her," Gabby admitted to her, She knew she shouldn't be telling her this but she needed the eighteen year old to understand everything, "Just don't tell anyone I told you that. Talk to them about your school, about their school and give them good advice. You're a good girl."

"Well I'm not a girl anymore Gabby," Rebecca gave her older cousin a hug, she turn to Matt, "You must be Matt. I'm Rebecca."

"Hi," Matt shook the young woman's hand, "It's nice to meet you."

'You too," She began walking away.

Matt turned back to Gabby and continued to walk with her. As they walked and got closer to the main house Matt saw more and more kids playing. Most of the kids looked thirteen and under and almost none of them had blonde hair or light coloured skin, he definitely in the minority.

"Now," Gabby stopped just short of the path up to the house, she was facing a game of soccer a lot of the kids were playing, she, smiled as she saw them play and run round, she loved seeing children so happy. She took Matt's hand, led him away, and lowered her voice, "Laura and Antonio had a fight this afternoon, I'm not sure what it was about but Laura's really upset with him. It probably has something to do with his work; he's been in the house talking on the phone almost the entire day. My parents aren't too impressed either. My father doesn't like anyone doing lots of business during family time."

"Ah," Matt took a deep breath as Gabby began to walk up to the pathway that led to the porch. He still needed to meet two of her uncles so he was beyond nervous. Everyone sitting on the porch and looking at him didn't help matters any. He followed Gabby up the steps and stopped just beside her.

"Tio Hector, Tio Lionel," She looked at her Tio's 'this is my boyfriend Matt. Matt these are my Tio's and my Tia Mary and Amanda." Gabby introduced everyone.

Matt walked up to Hector, her Uncle who was a Federal Judge, he stuck out his hand, which the older man shook, "It's very nice to meet you Sir."

Hector, was probably the most liberal of his brothers and was most accepting of new people, still though he was protective of his family. Everything he had heard though was that Matthew Casey was the one for Gabby. "Well we've heard so much about you, Son. Please sit down and talk with us. I'm sure the kids kept you busy."

"I loved it," Matt smiled, "They're great kids, really great." His love of kids was glowing out of him, something that everyone loved. "I made sure they all had their helmets on if they were riding their bikes. I wasn't sure what to do when I left but there's lot's of security around so…"

"It's fine Bro," Rafael informed him, "These kids can't go one minute without some kind of security, no worries. I just hope my kids didn't give you too much trouble."

It took Matt a minute to remember who Rafael's kids were. "Rachel and William right?"

"And Gavin," For a second Rafael seemed impressed Matt had picked up on all of the names so fast.

"Rachel and Olivia are playing hopscotch and the boys went to play soccer again. Diego and Daniela were the only two still riding bikes when I left."

Santiago began to cry and fuss in Laura's arms. "Ssh," Laura stood and tries to soothe him. "I think I'm going to go and see if he needs to be changed," She stood to excuse herself. On the way to her and Antonio's rooms she passed where Antonio was still talking on the phone, she shook her head at her husband. She hated what he was doing, hated how he seemed to forget all about his family. After changing her son and getting a soother, Laura carried Santiago into the office. She glared at Antonio until he hung up the phone.

"What?" He turned to her and asked angrily.

''Really, you are still talking on the phone?'' Antonio suddenly heard behind him.

''It's really important.'' He told her.

''It has been talking three hours already!''

''I know but-''

''This can't wait until tomorrow, or better yet next week! Your whole family is there and you are in here.'' She told him furiously.

''Look, it is important, if you leave me alone I will be out of here within a few minutes.''

''Yeah, sure. Have fun being a fraud in here.'' Laura just shook her head then, so angry with her husband.

''I am still talking to my advisors!'' He yelled at her. ''I need to know what they think because I have no idea what to do.''

''Well I told you what I thought but you didn't seem to care about that.'' Laura told him before turning around to walk out of the office again.

Antonio stayed on the phone for another half an hour until finally he came out onto the deck, "Just in time to get Daniela and Santiago ready for dinner," Laura handed over their two youngest children, 'And make sure Daniela's dress is on properly, and please don't try to do her hair, Let me or Gabby do that."

Without so much as a grunt, Antonio took his kids and walked back into the house. "Laura-"

"Don't Gabby," Laura stood up and shook her head, she was still to upset too talk about it, there was more going on that she didn't know about, she didn't want to tell her it here at least. "I'm going to go and get Diego and Eva."

"When's dinner?" Matt asked, he figured if the kids were, starting to get ready to must be soon but he wanted as much time as possible to get ready.

"In about an hour," Esmeralda informed him, " I'm not sure if Gabby's told you or not but the first dinner of these family reunion's is always the most formal one."

"Yeah she did."

"Gabby!" A small girl came running at her at full speed, or as fast as her little legs could take her.

Gabby bent down and picked up two-year-old Sophia. Sophia was one of the youngest children but the oldest of the younger ones, being she was the only one that could walk. Due to her age, though she wasn't able to keep up with the older children and she didn't like playing with the other young ones who were nearly a year younger than they were.

"Sophia this is my boyfriend Matt. Can you say hi?" She asked as she began to fix the toddler's braids. She had thick dark hair and it often got tangled.

"Hi," Sophia grinned at him, "You cute."

"Sophia!" Her mother Alyssa laughed, "I think you've been spending too much time with the older girls." She shook her head. Her daughter wasn't wrong, as Matt was very good looking but she knew the toddler didn't really understand what she was saying, "A few more minutes and then we're going to go back inside to keep getting you all nice and pretty for dinner."

Sophia looked at her older cousins who were still playing and she frowned and began to cry. "I pay!" She pointed to them.

"The big kids are going to start getting ready too," Alyssa promised her, "It just takes you a long time, Mommy needs to make your hair really pretty."

Sophia continued to pout but she sat happily on Gabby's lap. Soon, like Alyssa had promised all of the older children were rounded up and taken to go and get ready for dinner. They all needed to get changed into formal clothes and some needed to have baths or showers to wash up.

Once dinner was ready, everyone was sitting at two long tables in the formal dining room. They were all talking and laughing and everything seemed okay. Matt appreciated the fact that even though everyone may have their own problems or fights that they re could still be civil with one another, that was something his family could never do.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter.


	12. Camp David: The Accident

**A\N:** Thank you all so much for all of the reviews on the previous chapter. I'm going through a hard time personally right now and reviews really make me feel a lot better. A special thank you to my friend on Twitter who looked over this chapter for me. My usual beta reader can't edit for me anymore so if anyone is interested please leave a review or PM me.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Gabby tried to make as little noise as possible as she put her make-up on. It was five o'clock in the morning and she knew only one other person in the cabin wouldn't be sleeping. Her mother would have already been up preparing breakfast for forty-five people, Gabby suspected for an hour at least. They hadn't gotten a chance to talk alone since Christmas and so Gabby had set her watch to go off at four thirty. As well as help her mother in the kitchen she was going to use this time to catch up.

Gabby looked in the mirror and looked at her appearance. She'd applied only light make-up, afraid of making to much noise if she rattled around in her bag for supplies. If she wanted to later she could always put more on. She had on a red tank top and a pair of short jean shorts. Not having time to braid her hair she just put it in a high ponytail. Sneaking into her and Matt's bedroom, she put her things on a table and carefully closed the door. She used the flashlight on her phone to get into the kitchen, which as she suspected had the lights on.

Her mother, still in her housecoat was busy making pancakes. Esmeralda Dawson had always been one to always keep busy and as such had put both her children in many extra-curricular activities, making both Gabby and Antonio well rounded. When Gabby was thirteen and she started acting, getting caught drunk at a party, Esmeralda decided it was time for her to get a job. She easily arranged for Gabby to baby-sit a then infant Eva everyday after school and during school holidays. It kept Gabby out of trouble and gave her responsibilities and pride in herself knowing that she could do something. It was then that Gabby had decided she wanted to be a doctor.

Growing up, Gabby and her mother had a relatively good relationship. Gabby loved copying her mother when she was a little girl and as Gabby got older, she wanted to be just like her mother. She seemed to always be put together and she was such a good hostess. Gabby still loved her mother and looked at her knowing she wanted to be like her. Being the most powerful woman in the country hadn't changed her at all and Gabby liked that.

"Gabriella, dear." Esmeralda looked up to see her daughter as she entered the kitchen, "You didn't have to get up this early to help me. Go back to sleep."

Her mother never wanted to accept help, even though she may need or want it, and Gabby knew she'd need it. "I want to help Mom, it'll give us a chance to talk. You were still so busy at Easter and it was only a few days."

"Fine. You can start making the muffins. Matthew seems very nice," She hinted at a topic of conversation hoping her daughter would pick up on it.

She began to get out all of ingredients needed to make the muffins and responded, "He is. I really like him," Turning her head she asked, "Blueberry muffins okay?

"Sure dear," Her mother responded, "You know your father and I were very impressed at how easily Matt seemed to fit in yesterday. It took Laura a good year to be that comfortable around your father and I, and that was when your father was still a Detective."

"I remember Mom." Gabby was only eight years old when Antonio brought Laura home for the first time. Gabby had an instant dislike for her, as she and Antonio were so close, she assumed Laura would steal him away. In an effort to get Laura and Antonio to break up, Gabby had made a plan, a plan she thought was good at the time. It consisted of a series of pranks to make Laura go away. One prank involving a love letter she sneaked into Laura's backpack did cause them to break up and Antonio was so angry and hurt. Gabby had felt so bad that she confessed sobbing to her parents and after explained what happened to Antonio and Laura took her punishment of a week of being grounded. After that, Gabby tried to get to know Laura and it wasn't long before Laura grew to be an older sister to her and now they were best friends. Gabby honestly couldn't image her life without her.

Esmeralda knew her daughter wouldn't like this next question but she needed to ask, especially after her last boyfriend, "I just want to make sure Matt feels like he doesn't need to put on an act."

Gabby stopped adding ingredients to a bowl and walked to the stove where he mother was making bacon. She stopped just a few feet away from her. "Matt's an extremely family-oriented man Mom. He really likes kids and he's great with them. This kind of setting, this big family setting, is perfect for him. He shines here because it all plays to his strengths. He's beyond nervous though that's why he spends so much time with the kids; he's good with them so it's easier for him. This week going perfect is very important to him."

Esmeralda nodded, "I'm sorry Gabriela, I just worry about you…"

"It's okay Mom," Gabby leaned in to kiss her cheek "I know you and Dad just want to protect me but… I really like Matt." Gabby looked around to make sure they really were alone, "I love him Mom. I close my eyes and I can picture us married with kids in the future."

Esmeralda had never seen her daughter light up like this, or speak with this much happiness it her voice. It was clear that she really did love Matt, "I'm happy for you honey. You and Matt make a very cute couple."

Gabby kissed her on the cheek again and walked back to making the muffins.

* * *

"Alright," Antonio finished tying up the last rope to the pole. He gave it a once over before looking over the rest of the makeshift boxing ring. He was pretty sure it was secure enough but he knew Laura would murder him if anything bad happened to Diego and as things stood with them, he couldn't afford to get on her bad side anymore. He slept on the floor the previous night and had a feeling he'd be doing the same thing for the next few nights.

"Come on Gavin!" Diego eagerly pulled his cousin under the ropes and onto the huge mat, "Lets spar."

Gavin looked at his cousin and friend before at his father. He wasn't that big into boxing, and he knew Diego was but he was in karate and doing very well.

"No beating each other up boys." Rafael instructed. He didn't want his seven year old son thinking fighting was the answer to all life's problems. "Diego, you can just show Gavin what to do."

"Oh its easy," Diego turned back to his friend, "You just hold up your arms like this," He held up his arms and made fists, "You use them to block shots." He began explaining.

"Wow this looks good!" Matt said as he and Gabby walked down the stairs and into the cabin they were using as a set up for the boxing ring. They'd acquired two big mats from a gym that was closing and gotten ropes. The intention was to set it up and leave it there, as boxing was very important to the family.

"Matt!" Diego ducked under the ropes and ran to him. He hadn't seen him since breakfast. That was five hours ago when Gabby had taken him on a tour of the grounds. "Do you like it? Now I can teach you how to box?"

Matt had to think for a second as to what the boy was referring to. He then remembered Diego saying he could teach him how to box when he and Gabby had gone to Laura and Antonio's house in Chicago.

"Sure." Matt lifted the boy up and placed him on his shoulders.

"Maybe you and Daddy can box too," Diego suggested. He looked at his father and smiled. "Please Daddy! I love it when you box. You don't have to do anymore work do you?" He hadn't liked it yesterday when his father had been working. He was used to his father working, never being home and he understood why but this week was supposed to be different. He wanted to spend time with his father and this seemed perfect.

"Yeah," Gavin agreed with his cousin, "That would be cool."

Antonio looked at Gabby, silently telling her he wouldn't hurt Matt. He would just spar with him a little and do some moves he'd learn back when he was in competition. Plus, it would be good for him to get his anger at the entire situation with Laura out of his mind.

"What do you say Matt?"

Matt looked at Antonio, although they were both very physically fit. In fact Matt was maybe just a little bit more fit, if only due to the nature of his job. That wasn't important though, Matt knew Antonio was at one point a step away from the Olympics and was once regarded as the best boxer in the United States. Matt had never boxed before. Did he want to embarrass himself in front of Gabby? Could he afford to say no?

Not wanting to do anything to make this week not go perfectly Matt nodded his head, "Sure, but go easy on me," He warned. He turned to Gabby who looked less then amused.

Gabby knew this was a bad idea. Antonio didn't want to hurt Matt but he took boxing very seriously and he was very competitive, especially in boxing. As soon as Matt dodged one punch, Antonio would automatically punch him out, taking out all of his worked up anger out on him.

"You better not hurt him!" Gabby warned seriously as they got on gloves and helmets and got into the ring.

"Don't you trust me Gabby?" Antonio turned to his sister and asked.

He knew she trusted him with her life, that wasn't the point. As Antonio and Matt began to spar, Diego and Gavin watched eagerly and with excitement. Then after a few minutes Antonio began to get more aggressive, his stance changed and he moved around trying to get a good angle for a punch. Before anyone knew what had happened, Antonio had punched Matt right in the nose causing him to fall down.

"Antonio!" Gabby yelled in outrage as she rushed onto the mat. She pushed him out of the way and helped Matt sit up. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she examined his head.

"Okay," Matt responded although he was still a little disoriented, "I think my nose is broken." He pulled his hands away to reveal his nose that was gushing out blood. It was already swelling up, making his cheeks look big as well.

Gabby gently put a finger on his chin and turned his head sideways, "Yeah it's broken. We need to get you to a doctor." She helped him stand up, "My Dad will probably send for his physician from D.C. in the meantime we can ice it as well as your head.

"Yes doctor." Matt couldn't help but smirk just a little, he found it incredibly sexy when she was giving him orders and taking charge.

"Hey man look…" Antonio walked up to him, rubbing his hands on his shorts, he was clearly nervous. "I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to hurt you." Everything just happened so fast and he didn't even remember how or why he started punching harder.

"Daddy!" Diego turned to look at his father. "Mommy's not going to be very happy about this," He told him honestly. Even at eight he knew how much his mother hated the idea of boxing, she hated the whole sport and that was why she was trying so hard to get him away from it. He could like any other sport and she'd be happy. He loved soccer and was very good at it but other then that he wasn't that sporty. He preferred reading and doing science experiments, of course the one sport he did like was boxing.

If in fact when Diego got older and he really liked it and was good and wanted to compete, Laura would never stop him. It wouldn't be her first choice for her son but she'd never get in the way of a passion for any of her children. She wanted to believe she'd always be supportive of them no matter what.

"You're right buddy, she won't be very happy. I think we've had enough boxing for one day. Let's go outside and help your cousins and everyone set up the tents for the sleep out all right? He didn't want the young boys to try and emulate what they just saw. "Lets go, outside," He ordered, as they still hadn't moved.

Mumbling, Diego and Gavin walked up the stairs and out of the cabin. The cabin they were in was a medium sized one and on top of a rather large basement had three bedrooms, currently being used by Rafael, his wife and their kids.

It was a hot day outside and the humidity made it feel sticky and even worse. It was surely one of the hottest days of the year so far. Diego wished he could go back inside to the air conditioning but knew better then to say that to his father. When he got angry, you just listened and did as you were told.

"Daddy, I'm hot!" Gavin complained as soon as Rafael got outside, turning to his father and pouted, "Can I go back inside. I don't like being outside when it's really hot."

Rafael hated it when his son complained, it was something he could not tolerate and a trait he wanted taught out of his son, he still had no idea how he came to get what he wanted by whining and stomping his foot. He was almost eight years old.

"Don't you dare use that tone of voice with me!" He roared so loudly, it scared both Gavin and Diego, "I don't want to see you two right now. Go and find something to do!" Gavin and Diego quickly ran away.

"Man," Antonio looked at his cousin, "What was that about?" He'd hardly ever seen him raise his voice that loudly.

"His nanny gives him whatever he wants when he talks like that. He's never going to get anywhere in life if he whines."

Antonio knew for a fact that Gavin and his siblings nanny was very strict on him and his siblings, they were very well behaved under her care. It was often Rafael who gave in to Gavin's complaining and whining, often giving him what he wanted because he was too tied up or too rushed to discipline him. Antonio would never say that though, at least not right now. He knew Rafael was stressed out having to deal with his parents and Stella. Since they still didn't have a good relationship he was often the go-between.

"Come on I need to go explain to Laura what happened," Antonio patted Rafael's shoulder as he began walking up the path and back towards the main house. The main house had a huge backyard and that was where the tent were going to be set up for the sleep-out. Most of the children were busy helping to set up the tents with the youngest ones having naps in the main house.

Camp David had huge grounds, so big in fact that golf-carts were available for use for greater distances. Luckily though the cabin they were near was only a ten-minute walk to the main house, not long at all, it was refreshing actually.

There were already at least fifteen tents set up and they all looked pretty good, most of them were small, fitting only tow or three people. Luckily the kids had figured out who was sleeping with who. The younger kids needed to have an adult sleep with them that was the only thing not entirely figured out yet. Since the children's ages varied, some adults needed to sleep inside the main house where the younger kids were having their own sleep out and others had to sleep outside.

"Antonio Dawson!" Laura stalked over to her husband and pulled his arm roughly. "What were you thinking? Gabby's just about ready to kill you, and I don't blame her! You better have an good explanation and I swear if its because you were protecting her I'll-" She started but Antonio was quick to answer.

"It was an accident Laura! I didn't do it on purpose!" Was that what Gabby thought? Sure he warned Matt that he'd beat him up if he hurt Gabby but those were only threats. He'd never really do anything like that, he valued his relationship with his sister too much for that.

"Well Gabby doesn't think so!" Laura shook her head and scoffed, "I can't believe you even agreed to box him, you know how competitive you can get. Was this about us Antonio?" Seeing the look on her husband's face answered her question, "Antonio," She sighed, "I know you're worried about the re-election but I have a bad feeling about that deal, if your father finds out… that bill was one of his main promises during the campaign. How would it look if the media finds out you didn't support it? That would cause you not to get re-elected! Forget about all of the other things."

"Not here Laura," Antonio hushed her.

"Fine!" Laura backed away, "But I think we need some couple's therapy." She wanted, needed this marriage to work out especially for the children if not just for herself. She didn't want to imagine her life without Antonio in it.

"No way," Antonio pulled her back. "No counselling, not an option. If the media finds out-"

"Well its better then a divorce!" She said it without thinking clearly and instantly regretted it; "I don't want a divorce Antonio but I think if we don't get help now that's the road were heading towards. Having therapy isn't a bad thing it means we want to save our marriage.

"Well the media won't see if that way." He huffed and turned to talk away.

* * *

"Thank you Dr. Weston," Gabby shook hands with her father's private doctor. He'd flown all the way in from D.C. to check on Matt. Since Matt's injuries weren't life threatening and he didn't need to go to a hospital it was batter this way. A hospital visit would cause too much press attention, as someone would have had to accompany him.

"You're very welcome Gabriela," The older man smiled, He was well aware as a Doctor she knew all of the information he was about to tell her but he wouldn't feel right if he didn't say it, "Matt you need to keep the cast on your nose for three weeks. I'm not sure what that'll mean for you working. Now the swelling and bruising around the nose and cheeks should be gone within a week. What hospital will you go to when the cast needs to be taken off? I can send my report to them when I get back to D.C. In terms of the concussion you have to stay awake for twenty-four hours and if you faint or feel dizzy call 911. Usually I'd recommend you go to the hospital now but I know Gabriela knows what she's doing."

Gabby knew the signs and symptoms of a concussion like the back of her hand; she'd seen many of them while treating children. Matt was already feeling dizzy and he had a headache but that was also due to his broken nose. Gabby would have preferred him go to the hospital and get an MRI but she trusted Dr. Weston.

" I'll probably go to Chicago Med. I know some of the doctor's there in the E.R." Matt told him, "I think I'll be able to work with a broke nose, it's not like a arm or leg," He told him. He wasn't completely sure though he needed to check with his chief when he got back to Chicago.

"I'll send my reports to Chicago Med," Dr. Weston shook Matt's hand and walked out of the room leaving Gabby and Matt alone.

Matt's nose did not look good, the skin around his nose and his cheeks were still swollen and bruised and it most defiantly looked like he had lost a fight. On top of his broken nose his left eye was bruised a little.

Gabby sat back down beside him and gently caressed his face leaning in for a kiss, "I'm so sorry Babe. Antonio should never have punched you that hard. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Matt was only slightly lying, "The Advil is starting to work and I have the world's best nurse," He raised an eyebrow, "You know I always liked the idea of a sexy nurse."

Gabby pursed her lips together and climbed onto his lap, she gave him a deep kiss, "Then we can play Dr. next week at the hotel," She whispered sexily in his ear,

"Gabby," He groaned out in disappointment, he really hated how she teased him. She was right though there was no way he wanted to be caught having sex in her parents cabin, when all of her family, many of them young children.

"Come on," She helped him to stand up, "Dinner should be ready and everyone will be worried about you.

Tonight's dinner was much more casual then the previous nights. It consisted of a BBQ with hamburgers and hotdogs and lots of salads and fresh fruit for desert. Everyone was seated at picnic tables and lawn chairs and some of the children were sitting on blankets. When Gabby and Matt walked down the stairs and onto the lawn most of the conversation stopped.

"How are you son?" Eduardo stood up from the picnic table he was sitting up and approached him. "Did Dr. Weston say you needed to go to the hospital? Because I can have someone take you now," He turned to look at his Secret Service team.

"No, it's alright. The doctor said he thought my headache might be caused by my broken nose, Gabby's going to keep a close eye on me and if I need to go to the hospital later I can. I'm not that hungry but-

"On nonsense," Esmeralda shook her head, "You need to eat something Matthew. Your body needs energy especially now. You just have half of a hot dog and some pasta salad." She began making him up a plate full of food.

Matt really wasn't hungry but he wasn't about to say no now, he looked at Gabby who only shrugged her shoulders and let out a little laugh.

"Matt, come sit over here!" Diego ran over to Matt and grinned widely, "Did it hurt when Daddy punched you?"

"Yeah Diego it did," Matt confirmed, "I like your pyjama's. The Chicago Blackhawks are my favourite hockey team."

Diego beamed with pride, "I met the team and got to hold the Stanley Cup!" He informed him, "It was really cool. Mommy and Daddy have lots of pictures. Oh and I got a jersey with my name on it.

"Diego, you know better then to brag," Gabby scolded, "Now go back and eat. You can talk to Matt later."

Knowing his aunt was right, Diego turned and walked away. He didn't mean to show-off he was just liked Matt so much and he knew he'd love that story.

"Tia Gabby!" Daniela ran over to her aunt, the three year old reaching her arms up to be held. "Look at my favouritste shirt, isn't it the most pretty thing?"

Gabby held her niece in her arms, although it was dark there were lanterns around and Gabby could clearly see Daniela was wearing a pink t-shirt with lots of sparkles on it.

"Its very pretty sweetie but aren't you cold?"

"No! Mommy saided I needed to wear a jacket but I said no!" Daniela informed her as Gabby carried her back to the table Laura and Antonio were sitting at.

"It's not worth the fight, when she gets cold she'll put it on," Laura shook her head. If she'd learnt anything in her twelve years as a parent it was that you had to pick your battles. You couldn't fight with your children over everything, especially when they were as stubborn as hers were. Arguing over a jacket just wasn't something Laura wanted to do with her three year old. She didn't care if her in-law's thought the jacket should be on even if there was an argument, if Daniela got cold she'd put it on then she'd learn the hard way about wearing it.

Gabby sat down with Daniela still in her lap at the picnic table, "Where is your food sweetheart?"

"Over there!" Daniela pointed to plate on the other side of the picnic table.

Antonio handed his daughter the plate and saw her hamburger was the only thing she hadn't eaten. "Do you want ketchup on it?

"I can do it Daddy!" She reached for the ketchup bottle and turned it upside down. "Mommy!" She looked up at Laura who was sitting directly across from her.

"You need to squeeze it sweetheart."

Daniela squinted her eyes and frowned as she tried to squeeze the ketchup onto her hamburger, turning it towards her she said, "Mommy its broken, see" She squeezed it and it came out splattering all over her favourite pink shirt. Letting out a horrified cry, tears streamed down Daniela's face.

"Mo-ommmy!" Daniela sobbed, "It's ruined!" She began rubbing the ketchup all over the shirt and unintentionally making it harder to clean.

"Sweetie don't do that," Laura gently moved her hand away, "Lets go and get you all cleaned up. You can change into a nice pair of pyjamas alright." If the shirt wasn't ruined already it needed to go into the wash with stain remover soon before it had time to set.

"Mommy!" Daniela climbed off Gabby's lap and over to Laura. Laura stood up with Daniela in her arms and soothed her as she sobbed, "I-I'm sorry."

"No, no baby," Antonio got up and walked to his daughter and rubbed her back, "No need to be sorry sweetie. It's not your fault. Mommy and Daddy will fix your shirt."

Laura glared at her husband over their daughter. They both knew there was no guarantee Daniela's shirt could be fixed; she didn't like him promising anything.

"Lets go inside," Laura started to carry Daniela away when Santiago began to scream. He was with Antonio's parents so she knew he was safe.

"Laura, dear," Esmeralda called her over, "I'm going to need to give Santiago a bath."

Laura turned around and walked towards her mother in-law. She was at first confused as to why her son would need a bath, as soon as she got close though she smelt and saw it. Santiago had a bout of diarrhea and his clothes were soaked, the back of his shirt and his pants especially.

"Oh boy," Laura didn't expect her in-laws to clean up Santiago, not when they had so much do to already, "Daniela you go with Abuela alright. Mommy needs to look after Santiago." Laura put Daniela on the ground, the little girl crying more then she already was.

"Dear I can-" Esmeralda knew better then to be offended, Laura knew she was more then capable of looking after her grandson. She just needed to prove she was a good mother, it stemmed from needing to have a nanny for the children.

"Mommy!" Daniela stomped her foot, she hated not being the centre of attention.

"Hey Daniela!" Gabby walked up to her niece and picked her up, "How about we get you changed and you can wear one of Matt's shirts. You have to act like a big girl though. No crying, we need to get that shirt off you so it can be washed."

"Matt come too?" Daniela asked. She looked over at her Aunt's boyfriend.

Without being asked, Matt walked over and took Daniela into his arms. "Of course I can."

Daniela stopped crying and smiled; looking at Matt's bandaged up nose she said. "Daddy broked it!" After the President's doctor had to be flown in from D.C. everyone found out what had happened to Matt, even the children. Antonio felt guilty so he didn't deny he had hit Matt only that he hadn't meant to do it and it wasn't on purpose. Gabby hadn't said much to him since but he knew they needed to talk things out.

"Yeah but Daddy's really sorry," Gabby told her. At first she was furious at her brother, but after having had time to calm down she realized she could have said she didn't think the sparring was a good idea, so she couldn't blame Antonio for everything.

"Yeah I am," Antonio echoed smiling at his sister glad that she'd forgiven him, which was the last thing he needed at the moment.

"Lets go and get you into a new shirt." Gabby told Daniela, she carried her into the cabin and into the room she and Matt were sharing. She stood her up on her bed and took her t-shirt off. "You wait her and I'll go and get you some shorts from your room alright."

"Frozen ones Tia Gabby!" Daniela called excitedly as she fell down onto the bed and bounced a little before sitting down. She moved so her feet were dangling over the bed. She watched as Matt looked through his bag, wondering if he was looking for a shirt for her.

Matt found one of his old fire academy shirts that Gabby liked to sleep in, he figured she wouldn't mind sharing, turning to face Daniela he put it on her and stood her up. The shirt swam on her and it looked more like a dress. Matt assumed that it would also be unsafe to walk in as she might trip.

"Here you go sweetie," Gabby returned to the room with some shorts. "I think we need to make some adjustments," She began to laugh a little, "You look cute sweetie but come with Tia Gabby," She lifted her niece into her arms and carried her into the bathroom, She returned ten minutes later with Daniela. Matt's shirt was tied up in two ponytails at Daniela's hip and her Frozen shorts were visible.

"Come on Matt!" Daniela ran to him, "We don't want to miss Toy Story. It's an old movie."

Matt raised his eyebrows and had to hold in a laugh, he picked up Daniela and began tickling her, "It's younger then I am sweetheart," He informed her swinging her into his shoulders. "Do you think I'm old?

"Yes," Daniela nodded her head as she started to laugh again.

Gabby couldn't help but smile as she saw Matt with Daniela, she knew he'd make a great father one day and it warmed her heart. In her head, she had this picture of her and Matt having children and it made her feel good. She'd never had this thought with any of her other previous boyfriends.

Gabby followed Matt out back into the backyard where the big drive in-movie theatre sized screen was set up and the movie was on. Matt sat down in a lawn chair Daniela in his lap.

"Make sure she doesn't fall asleep Matt," Antonio warned, "She's sleeping in the house tonight."

"No Daddy!" Daniela shook her head, "Old enough to be outside."

"I thought I was staying with her," Gabby looked at her older brother a little confused. Since Antonio needed to supervise Diego and Laura needed to stay with Santiago she'd offered at breakfast to stay with Daniela.

"I just thought because of Matt's concussion that you'd want to stay with him." Antonio explained.

"Matt stay in tent too!" Daniela looked at her father, she sighed as if she thought it was the simplest explanation in the entire world.

"Sure," Matt nodded, "We can do that."

"Alright but you just make sure you sleep in between Tia Gabby and Matt Daniela. We don't want them kissing or anything." Antonio quipped.

"Shut up! We're trying to watch the movie!" Gabby reached out to punch him in the stomach.

* * *

"So…" Gabby gently combed her fingers through Daniela's curly brown hair as the three year old slept soundly. After the movie was over the youngest ones were put to bed in the house. Daniela however was adamant that she be allowed to stay up and watch the 2nd Toy Story. She lasted twenty minutes in before falling asleep. Matt then carried her into the tent and with Gabby's help put her in her sleeping bag.

"What do you see in your future?" Matt asked the question she'd wanted to ask. "Kids and everything?" She'd told him she wanted a big family but they hadn't discussed much else. He wasn't sure how many kids she wanted or when she wanted to have them. Did she want to wait until she was finished her residency?

"Uhm…" Gabby took a few minutes to get her thoughts in order. "I'd love a nice summer wedding, maybe by the ocean. I think I don't have much choice in having a big fancy church wedding though." She let out a little sigh, "That's alright though I understand it's a family thing and a political thing. I want three kids; two girls and a boy would be nice. I'd love to have kids now but next year I'll be an attending, once I pay off some of my student loans I'd love to get married. What about you?"

Matt was surprised that Gabby had student loans; he would have bet her parents would have paid for her schooling. He knew though it wasn't the right time to ask, he needed to answer the question. "I see the way my best friend Andy and his wife Heather are and I know I want that. I want to be married and have someone to come home too after a tough shift, have kids I can teach and I want to be a good father to them… a better father then mine was to me. I'd love three little boys, although," He leaned over Daniela's small frame and kissed Gabby on the lips, "A little girl with caramel skin and curly brown hair would be adorable."

Blushing, Gabby reached over and caressed his face, "You're going to be an amazing father Matt. You're so great with Daniela, Diego and all of the kids here. They all love you. I-" She took a deep breath, she couldn't believe she was going to say this, she closed her eyes and decided she needed to get it over with, "I love you."

For only a few seconds Matt was stunned, they hadn't said those words yet to each other and he certainly wasn't expecting them, "I love you too," He leaned in to kiss her again and caressed her face, "Move in with me?"

"Yes!" Gabby smiled and cried due to all of the emotions over the past few minutes. "I will move in with you." She kissed him.

Daniela groaned and opened her eyes. She sat up and looked up at her aunt "Tia Gabby! You woked me up!"

"I'm sorry sweetheart," Gabby helped her lay back down, "Tia Gabby and Matt will be quiet." She pressed a kiss to her head as the young girl fell back asleep.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** Reviews make me feel good! Please review.


	13. Camp David: Photo Sessions

**A\N:** I'm so glad a lot of you are still enjoying this story. I don't have someone to look this over for me anyone so I'm sorry for any mistakes. I found a system that I thinks works for me, I've been editing and reading over each part as I'm finished writing it so I'm not to overwhelmed. I really hope to like this chapter and please remember to review.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

As she finished doing her make-up Gabby took a deep breath and tried to hold in her tears. Today wasn't going to be an easy day to get through. She usually enjoyed the family pictures that were taken every year at the family reunions but this year was different. Not only was the usually big family pictures and others being taken but her father's personal White House photographer was going to be their as well taking pictures. He wanted to get some of the family to share with the public. On top of that People Magazine had noticed a spike in interest by the public on the family and so was going to do a special issue on them, three of there photographers as well as three reporters were also going to be taking pictures and asking questions.

Gabby hadn't been this nervous about Alex finding her since the weeks after she'd broken up with him. Threats weren't enough to keep him away, she knew that, knew that things would eventually come out but she was still dreading it. She'd kept so much from her parents and family, something she hated doing. Even though she was doing to protect her father and brother she knew they wouldn't see it that way. The White House would have a lot of questions to answer when the paper got a hold of everything. The President would not be happy with her for keeping him in the dark and not telling him why she'd broken up with Alex and why she was so scared of the press. She wanted to run away, to stay in her room today but she knew that would cause to many questions and then her parents would demand answers, she wasn't ready to confess what she'd led him do to her. She knew it was wrong and she still trusted him. The guilt ate her up to much; a part of her was still so worried her parents would be mad at her for everything.

"Babe," Matt walked up to her and gently squeezed her shoulders as he wrapped her in his arms, "You can tell your parents your sick. I can-" He was the only one she told what Alex had done to her; and he suspected he didn't know everything. He'd encouraged her to tell her parents but she refused, she had to let it all play out now, she'd already made to many mistakes.

"No. Today is really important," Gabby took another deep breath, "I need to do this and then I'll deal with the consequences."

"Gabby-"

"No!" Gabby shook her head, "I can't tell them. I don't even know what I think of it all. I knew…knew what he was doing was wrong but I let him…" Tears came down her face. "I let him and that's my fault."

"No." Matt told her forcefully, "None of it is your fault. It's all his fault Gabby." She was such a strong woman. He hated seeing her like this, so broken and torn apart.

"Just let me take a few minutes, then I'll be out," Gabby requested.

"Alright," Matt kissed her cheek and walked out of the room.

The large backyard of the main house on the estate had been turned from a sea of camping tents and tables to a photo shoot studio in less then an hour. Eleven picnic tables were on the grass each with books, decks of cards or board games. The rest of the yard seemed to be split into three distinct areas, Matt guessed one for the family picture and smaller group and single pictures, one for the White House photographer and one for People Magazine.

"Matt!" Diego jumped up from a chair and ran towards him, "Do you want to play Candyland?" He asked. He was wearing a suit and tie and nice shoes.

"Sure," Matt nodded and followed the boy to the table. Laura was setting up the game for him and Daniela and she smiled when she saw him. "I'll look after them if you want," He figured she had lots of other things she needed to do, including get dressed. "Where's Eva?"

"Eva is still getting ready. You don't need to worry about her," She assured him, "Just make sure that Diego doesn't get his suit dirty. This is going to be a long day," She let out a sigh. As much as she always loved the finish products of the pictures the process of getting them done was a nightmare. Diego wasn't made to sit still and last year Daniela spent almost the entire day crying. With Santiago being so little and she and Antonio still not on good terms she knew it wasn't gong to be a good day.

"Right," Matt nodded, "You can stay with me alright bud," He lifted Diego up onto his knee, "Now I've never played this game before. So you tell me how to play it alright," He'd played the game before with his friends Andy's kids but he knew that having Diego explain it to him would keep him occupied.

"Oh its easy," Diego smiled, "You pick up a card and go to the first colour space you see. Sometimes you get special cards too. Daniela goes first, she's the youngest then I go and then you go. Can we play Battleship after this? I love that game."

"No, too confusing!" Daniela whined. She liked playing Candyland because she could play it on her own without having to have anybody's help.

"So, you don' have to play!"

"We'll talk about it after, let's play this game first," Matt told them. "Daniela you go first."

Daniela nodded and reached for a colour card, she then proceeded to move to the first square her card said.

Jason Mustard, the White House Photographer had just finished up setting up his small backdrop when he spotted Matt with Diego and Daniela. Even though he hadn't officially been introduced to Matt yet he knew of him. He quickly grabbed his camera and began taking pictures. It was rare that he got shots naturally so he was excited he got those ones, they were defiantly some good shots. Seeing one of the People Magazine photographers was also now taking pictures while a reporter took some notes he decided to go over to Matt, introduce himself and let him know about the People magazine reporters.

"Matthew Casey right?" He walked up to the picnic table and asked, once Matt was looking at him, clearly confused he continued, "My names Jason Mustard. I'm President Dawson's personal photographer. I just took a few pictures of you playing with Ms. Dawson and Mr. Dawson here." He continued, "If you want to see them I'd be happy to show them to you. I also wanted to let you know I think People magazine might have taken some pictures. I think Senator Dawson and his wife signed the permission forum for their pictures to be taken and used but I'm not sure.

"I want my picture in a magazine," Diego commented, "Can we see the pictures?" He asked. He climbed off of Matt's lap, "Please sir," He added remembering his parents woukd not be happy if he didn't use his manners. He still didn't understand why as everyone who worked for his father or Grandfather called him 'Mr. Dawson' if they needed to be that polite to him why couldn't he tell them what to do?

"I'd like to see them," Matt told him and so Jason found the pictures easily on his Nixon camera. "Are these pictures going to be released on Social Media?" He wondered.

"Well Sir I'm here all day and I'm going to take lots of pictures. I do like these though. The President has to approve the photos that are posted though. Do you not want them released?

Matt wasn't sure what he wanted. He knew in dating Gabby he'd be getting more publicity he just didn't want reporters showing up at the firehouse and intervening with his work. He ha to say though they were very natural pictures and he knew that image and showing the kids being normal was good for the family, "No. I don't have any problems with it. I 'm just new to this process. Kind of feeling a bit overwhelmed," He relieved.

"I can understand that Sir," He turned to see Gabby walking towards them and smiling politely, "Good morning Ms. Dawson."

"Good morning Jason." Gabby sat down next to Matt as Jason turned to leave. She was wearing a red formal dress and heals. "And good morning," She kissed Diego on the top of his head and smiled at Daniela, "You want someone else to play Candy Land too?"

"You can play with Daniela Tia Gabby. Matt and I can play Battleship," Diego cheered happily, "Can we Matt?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure bud," Matt went with him to another picnic table and set up the other game to play.

Slowly the picnic tables began to fill up with other children and it became harder and harder to keep the children from not wrecking their nice clothes. As Matt tried to keep Diego still he could see why Laura was dreading the day,

"Alright!" One word from Eduardo and most of the commotion and noise stopped, "Now Mr. Jeremy is ready to start getting us to sit for the family photo. After that he can do smaller group shots and individual pictures as well. My personal photographer Jason Mustard will be taking pictures all day and the photographers and reporters from People know they need parental signature to take pictures of any of the children or talk to them. They also need your consent to take pictures for their magazine," He wasn't telling the family anything the adults didn't already know but he knew it wouldn't hurt to repeat it. "Now lets listen up to Mr. Jeremy."

"I'd like the youngest children, the ones that are able to sit on by themselves to sit on the grass in front of the bench," He instructed. He waited as the youngest in the family began to sit down, some of them with help from adults, "After that I'd like the older children sitting on the bench and then two rows of the adults standing."

"Come on Matt!" Diego only took two steps before realizing Matt wasn't moving, "You can be in the back because you're tall," He explained,

"Oh no Diego, I'm not going to be in the picture. It's only for the family. I'm just Tia Gabby's boyfriend." It made Matt happy that Diego wanted him in the picture but he knew it would be inappropriate to be included in it, he wasn't asked to be in it so he wasn't going to go and stand for it. If Gabby hadn't been so stressed out about the day he would have asked her but he didn't want anything else to be worrying her.

"But I want you to be in it," He assumed that was enough.

"Diego," Antonio walked up to him frowning, "Lets go. Your brother and younger cousins are already getting fussy. We're waiting on you." Antonio took his son's hand and began to pull him.

"And I'm waiting on Matt," Diego declared as he crossed his arms, "Why can't he be in the picture?"

"Because he's nit part of the family," Antonio explained, "Maybe in a few years he and Tia Gabby will get married. Then he can be in the picture. Would you like that?"

"Yes!" Diego nodded happily.

"Good, now go and sit down and use that smile," Antonio instructed.

"Yes Sir," Diego went to sit for the pictures still feeling a little hurt that Matt wasn't able to be in it.

Matt was studded that Antonio had even suggested that he and Gabby might get marred in the future. He knew Gabby's older brother was warming up to him but he didn't think he liked him that much. Matt had thought about getting married to Gabby in the future and having children with her, it was an image that was getting clearer all the time. As hectic as this family reunion was her big family was on of the things he loved about her, he loved how close they were and how they were able to do things like taking family pictures. It took nearly half an hour and lots of crying and breaks before they were able to take eight pictures.

After talking to Jeremy DiCenzio, the photographer Gabby walked over to Matt and smiled, "Lets go for a walk until things settle down," She suggested. She needed and wanted to get away from all of the commotion that was going on. Plus, she didn't want her picture in People magazine, the more she was away from the common area the less likely that would happen.

"Of course," Matt stood up and took her hand as they walked towards one of the trails, "You look beautiful by the way." He complimented her.

"Thank you," She grinned, she turned to him and kissed him on the lips, her hands wrapping around his waist pulling him close. They were on the trail now and had a little but of privacy. She was planning on taking advantage of it. She ran her hand slowly up and down his leg grinning as he moaned out.

"Gabby," He bit her lip in order to stop himself from screaming. It had been far to long for him that he hadn't been intimate with her and she wasn't making it easy to wait. He figured though that was her plan, "Next week when we're alone in the hotel room I'm paying you back for that," He whispered in her ear as he caressed her breast through her dress.

Gabby quickly kissed him to stop herself from making too much noise, "I can't wait." She winked, giving him one last kiss she pulled away, "I talked to Jeremy, the photographer and asked him if he could take some pictures of us. We're going to have a mini photo shoot after lunch."

Matt eyed her. If it wasn't for his swollen face and cast on his nose he would have been okay with it, as he stood he didn't want pictures of them like that. She deserved to have nice pictures of the two of them together, "Can we wait for few weeks, Go to a studio or something?"

"No. The setting is beautiful here," She told him, "Nobody's going to remember what happened in a few years anyways. You can just say you got injured on the job."

Gabby we both know I'm never going to be able to live down what happened. Your brother, your golden glove-winning brother broke my nose. That story will be told at our wedding… you know if we ever have one."

Gabby knew he was right, all of the adults and even some of the older kids would remember what had happened. She wanted pictures with him though and she didn't care if he had a nose cast on. To her he still looked sexy and handsome, "You look fine, a little funny maybe but I still though enough of you to kiss you," She told him.

He could see how important this was to her and he couldn't say no, "Fine but only because I love you," Now that they had said that to each other the previous night he was going to tell her how he felt as often as eh could.

"I love you too," Gabby kissed him one last time. "We should probably head back soon. I don't want them to start sending out a search party to make sure we're not doing anything not G," She chuckled a little.

"But we did," Matt whispered,

"Yeah but what they don't know won't hurt them. Bedside's I have it on good authority that Antonio and Laura snuck away from a family reunion nine months before Eva was born."

Matt's eyes widened, "Who told you that?"

"Laura did. We're really close. Everything I don't share with Antonio I tell her. And I tell Antonio a lot of things. The only thing I haven't told him about is…"

"Gabby you should tell them," Matt stopped walking and looked at her, "I'm really worried about you. If he comes back and hurts you I'd…"

"Lets deal with that later," Gabby didn't want to talk about it now they were getting into earshot of the others. They both knew though that they'd never discuss it.

"Perfect timing," Antonio walked up to them, "People Magazine wants to take some pictures of Matt with Daniela and Diego." A People Magazine reporter and photographer followed Antonio up to the couple.

"Yes, and if its okay Ms. Dawson we'd like to sit down and do an interview with you and get some pictures of and some of you with Mr. Casey," The reporter told her.

This was what Gabby hadn't wanted. All of this was making her want to throw-up. She wanted to say no, but she knew she couldn't. She'd have to explain to her family what had happened with Alex and that would ruin the week for everyone, that wasn't what she wanted to do. What she had wanted, what she always wanted was to protect her family and by trying g to do that she ended up putting them in even more danger. If Alex found her now and kidnapped her or tried to hurt he it would be front page, world news, it would damage her father and brother's careers.

"Can I watch the photo shoot first?" She needed to mentally prepare herself for having her interview done, needed to convince herself that she was okay.

"Of course Ms. Dawson," The woman nodded her head. They ahd been told to be accommodating to the family, but this was something that was easily done.

"Oh Daniela," Matt picked up the toddler and took her hand away from her hair, "I'm sure Mommy worked hard on fixing your hair for you. Why don't you leave it? It's so pretty."

Daniela put a finger up her nose and then attempted to put it in her mouth.

"No, Daniela that's dirty," Matt shook his head, "Do you want something to hold?" He wasn't sure what the photographers were going to have them do.

"Alright Mr. Casey," The photographer and his assistants finishes setting up the scene, "We're not going to have this to complicated. "I think one of you holding both of them would be good. Maybe one of you playing soccer with young Mr. Dawson and playing dolls with Ms. Dawson," He suggested.

Matt nodded his head, he never would have guessed that the proper and formal way to address Antonio and Laura's kids and all of the other children would be using Ms. or Mr. and then they're names. But the Secret Service agents and all of the people who worked for the President were all referring to them by those names.

"Well how about this," Matt shifted Daniela in his arms so she was sitting on his hip, her legs down his side, he then rather easily lifted Diego up and flipped him upside down, he quickly used his hand to secure him. Diego was hanging down his side his head in mid air, his legs curled up near Matt's head

"Matt!" Diego laughed happily, he reached his hands down over his head and touched the grass.

"That's perfect!" The photographer dashed back to his camera to take a few pictures. He hadn't expected it to be this easy, in his experience children were hard to photograph as they always complained and never did as they were told, knock on wood all of the children he'd seen today were the complete opposite. They all did what he told them to do and they listned and were all polite.

He took several shots before stepping away from his camera, "Alright, now how about some with a soccer ball."

"Yay!" Diego cheered happily, Matt put him right side up and he went chasing after the ball as it was thrown towards him. "Dani try to get it," He challenged his younger sister.

"I can!" Daniela stuck out her tongue, "Matt down peese," She requested politely.

Matt set the three year old on the ground and she went running after her brother to get the ball. Matt watched them play and smiled. Diego was keeping the ball away from his sister but he wasn't taunting her with it and Matt could tell he would stop if Daniela got upset. Matt saw the photographer take a few pictures and he smiled to himself as he thought that was a great way to get some action shots of the kids, just being kids.

Diego stopped when he realized he was being photographed and in the split second Daniela got the ball. Afraid Diego would get it from her she picked it up and ran towards Matt. Without thinking Matt picked her up mid jump and that was the final picture.

"Alright," The photographer smiled, "I think that's it for now. After Ms. Dawson's interview we can take some pictures of you and her."

"Can we do them first?" Gabby was now stalling, but she didn't care, "It's just that I'm not sure how long the interview will take and I don't want to hold anyone up. If we do the pictures now you can feel free to take other pictures you may need," Gabby explained as she looked at the photographer, "I don't think I even know your name."

It's Liam Ma'am. And we can do the pictures now."

"Come on Daniela, Diego," Antonio called his kids, "Let's have a quick swim before lunch is ready."

Gabby walked over to where Matt was standing and wrapped her hands around his waist and pressed her forehead to his, in a low whisper she said, "I'm really scared Alex will find me." She needed to he held by him, needed him to comfort her as she tried her best not to cry.

"I'll protect you," Matt kissed her tenderly, forgetting all about the pain he was feeling thanks to his swollen face.

"That was perfect," Liam smiled from where he'd just taken a few pictures, "Now I'm thinking of a more playful one, maybe Mr. Casey you could carry Ms. Dawson on your back."

Gabby had known that pose would be to hard for Liam to pass up, she had used it as a disguise to draw some strength from Matt. Now she felt like she could tae on the interview.

"Sure," Matt gave Gabby another quick kiss before helping her jump on his back, he was strong and standing up and holding her was nothing compared to some of the things he had to do at work. As she was sitting on his back he could feel her agansit his back and he gripped her legs rather tightly in order to stop himself from needing her. Luckily for Matt the pose didn't last long and Gabby jumped down.

Liam had them sitting down for the next picture, Gabby's legs curled underneath her as she leaned into Matt who was sitting beside her. The beautiful landscape of the grounds behind them.

"Here," Liam knelt down and picked up a small chalkboard, "Let's try this for the final picture. This one will serve as a full page picture," He explained. As they stood up he carried the chalkboard over to them and handed it over. It said 'Gabby & Matt' in white letters with four hearts, two in pink and two in blue boarding it. "You two kiss and each hold this, just beneath your heads," He instructed them.

Gabby knew that the picture would probably be a lead in to her interview; something like this would grab people's attention for sure. She kissed Matt on the lips and they held the chalkboard in front of them.

* * *

The photo sessions had run late so dinner didn't get started until after seven o'clock, by the time desert had been served it was after nine. All of the younger children were tired and cranky and some of them were crying or throwing tantrums.

"I can help anyone if they need it," Matt offered as the family all stood up from the table. The older children helping to clear things away before going off to bed themselves.

"Actually Matt," Eduardo walked towards his office, "I'd like a word with you."

It seemed like a year before Matt fully registered what had just happened. This wasn't going to be good. He knew this wasn't going to be good, it couldn't be good. He looked at Gabby who was just as confused as he was.

"We can talk in my office," Eduardo was waiting by the door.

"Yes Sir," Matt quickly walked into the office, avoiding the eyes he knew were watching him as he walked. He felt as if he was in grade school and going up to the teacher's desk, all of his classmates watching.

The President's Office was, of course smaller then the Oval Office in the White House but not small. It had three bookshelves on one wall, a couch and table in the centre and a large desk in front of a window. In front of the desk were two chairs and Matt stood behind them, not sitting down before doing invited to do so.

"Have a seat Son," Eduardo sat down in his nice leather chair.

Matt sat and waited for the President to speak.

"When I first met you, and saw the way you were with the children I was a little suspicious. Over all of my years in politics and public service I've gotten very good and seeing through acts or masks people may put on. You seemed to fit in almost two easily this week, all of the kids love you and my brothers have very little negative things to say bout you. Although they share my concerns that it all seems too easy. Gabriela is a very smart young woman and I trust her judgement but something seems off with her lately, she's not herself and she was jumpy and on edge today. If I find out that you're hurting her in anyway I can promise you right now you'll be spending a night in Guantanamo Bay."

Matt gulped, even though he knew that could never happen, as he'd die before hurting Gabby it still scared him, knowing that Gabby's father had the power to do that. Once he got over the initial shock he smiled to himself, I he was starting to see that Gabby was off maybe he'd confront her and Gabby would tell him what happened with Alex, then he could help her. He wanted do badly to tell him but he knew it wasn't his place, at least not yet, if Alex came back and hurt Gabby and she still didn't say anything then he would. He wasn't got to sit back and see her get hurt when he could stop it.

"Now that we've settled that," Eduardo shuffled some papers on his desk and turned something for Matt to see, "We're going to need to release a statement in regards to your mother's situation before the People Magazine special issue is released in four months. After it is, you'll become a search item and your past is bond to be discovered. Tell me about anything now your vetting we found out you have a sister. Is there anything we need to know about her?"

Matt could understand why they'd want to release the information first, that way they could control and it didn't seem like they were trying to hide anything. "No Sir. She believes our mother should be in prison for what she did, I do not, although I know murdering is a crime I…" He stopped needing time to properly articulate what he was about to say, "My father wasn't a nice man and he abused my mother every day and me and my sister as well. Getting life imprisonment for murdering a man like that just doesn't seem right to me."

The President nodded his head, "I can understand why you'd feel that way. Now tell me more about your sister, Will she go to a media outlet and tell a different story."

"I don't think so Sir. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and two girls. I don't know much about her husband and I've never met him. My sister doesn't keep in contact with me and I stopped trying years ago. She wants nothing to do with me. The most likely situation will be that she'll kit ignore the whole thing. Unless it'll hep my mother get out of jail then she might not.

"Thank you. I'll keep you informed of the progress. And let you know when we release the news. You'll be getting a lot of press attention after we do and I must tell you not t answer any of there questions. If they get to hostile I'll assign you temporary Secret Service Protection.

Matt nodded, "May I go and tell my mother what'll happen myself, before you release a statement. She doesn't even know Gabby and I are together and I'd like to be the one who tells her."

"Yes, but if Gabriela goes we'll need to know way in advance."

"I'd never put Gabby in that kind of danger Sir," Matt responded, "I'll go on my own. If Gabby wants to meet my mother in the future I'll be sure to tell you in advance. A prison isn't the safest place for her.

Eduardo looked at him and shook his head. He didn't want to believe that Matt could be hurting Gabby, he didn't; seem like the type. However his daughter was definitely acting off and he was going to find our why.

"You may go now," Eduardo dismissed him, "But here is my private number and other White House contacts. These are the numbers we'll use to keep you informed about the media statement," He pointed to the piece of paper he'd pushed forward earlier."

Matt took the paper and left the office, closing the door on his way out. That hadn't gone as badly as he had feared. He hoped Eduardo put the pieces together as to why Gabby was acting off, she needed help.

"Matt," Gabby walked to him as he entered the kitchen, she took his hand and led him into their room, closing the door she looked at him, "What was that about?" She whipped her hands on her pants as she had been doing the dished and they were wet and soapy.

"Your Dad wanted to talk to me about my mother. The White House is going to make an official statement regarding my mother being in prison soon, before the People Magazine issue is released." Matt chose not to tell her about the other issue, she didn't need any more stress.

"Oh," Gabby sighed with relief, "I figured they'd do that. I'd like to meet your mother some time. I'm sure she has to be a very strong woman to live with your father for all of those years."

"You can meet her but let me go alone when we go back to Chicago. I got the impression from your father he doesn't want you to go without max security and measures put into place."

Gabby groaned out and shook her head, "Why can't he just let me go." These were the times when she most wished her father wasn't the President. He needed to account for every possible thing that could go wrong any then protect her. Even though in a prison with prison guards and her security there it would be all right.

"He's just doing his job Babe," Matt kissed her, "And I agree with him. I do want you to meet my mother but if we have more time we can set to meet in a private meeting room and not in the open one."

"As long as I get to meet her soon," Gabby told him. "Before February." February was the one-year anniversary of when they started dating and she'd like to have met her boyfriend's mother before then. Especially when he'd met her father's entire side of the family.

"We can arrange that I think."

"Good."

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** What did you think? Please review and let me know.


	14. Camp David: Play

**A\N:** I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update this story and all of my other ones as well. Life has been super busy lately. Thank you to my friends on Twitter for telling me I needed to update and for encouraging me. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please remember to review.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

"Hey Matt," Gabby's cousin Kevin waved him over to the table he and his brothers were sitting at. "Come and sit here, you can bring Gabby to if you want." He joked.

"He's always joking like that, Navy officers," Gaby rolled her eyes under her breath. "Kevin and Antonio always argue over the Navy or the Marines being better."

Gabby and Matt carried their breakfast plates over to the table and sat down. Today's breakfast was less formal and more of a buffet so people could sleep in. It went with the theme of being a relaxing day, mostly to recover from the photo shoots from the day before. On the agenda for today were three surprises for the children, which meant they were being kept in the pool, and surrounding areas with lots of games, activities and a huge inflatable obstacle course in the pool.

As the couple sat down Kevin lowered his voice and said, "The surprises for the kids are a play house version of the White House, a huge swing set and a toddler play set. The playhouse is coming with furniture and accessories. They just need to be installed. We're going to need to set up the swing sets though." Looking at Matt he said, "I hear you have a side construction business. Do you want to help me in being in charge of getting everything set up?"

"Sure," Matt nodded, he'd helped set up swing sets before and although they were difficult he was sure with a lot of people to help it wouldn't be that hard. "Do you have some construction knowledge too?" He asked wondering why the other man was also put in charge.

"No, he just has a big ego like all Naval Aviators. He thinks flying a big plane in the air makes him qualified," Gabby joked.

"Very funny Gabby," Kevin rolled his eyes at his cousin. They were close in age so growing up they'd played together a lot and had a brother and sister relationship. It was nice now to have some time to spend together, "You know I know a lot about planes and engineering as well."

"Yeah I know," She turned serious, "He's great Matt. He's a Lieutenant in the Navy. He'll make sure everyone stays on task. Actually…." She'd never thought about it before but now it suddenly all became very obvious, "You and Kevin probably have a lot in common." Matt and Kevin were both natural born leaders that led by example but knew how to take charge all the same. They were both very moral and family-oriented and good with children and passionate about what they did for a living.

"I'm sure we'll get along great," Kevin smiled, "How about we start coming up with a plan now?" He suggested. "The trucks are supposed to be bring everything in around an hour or so."

"Sure," Matt stood with his plate he leaned in and gave Gabby a kiss on the lips. Since they'd arrived at the reunion he'd never initiated any kind of intimate contact in front of her family, so Gabby guessed this meant that he was getting more comfortable. She gladly kissed him back ignoring the groans and complaints from her cousins.

"That's a red light." Kevin said trying to keep a straight face. He looked at his younger brother who nodded in agreement, "Actually I'm not sure what that was but it was above a red light. If I ever did anything like that on board a ship I'd-"

"Shut up!" Gabby picked up a napkin and threw it at him. She didn't find the jokes about the Navy's Sensitivity training funny or amusing. Although she had to give credit to her cousin that this one may have been a little funny. She just hoped that it wouldn't cause Matt to become nervous again. She wanted him to be comfortable around all of her family, they were a couple and they should be able to kiss if they wanted to.

"Red light?" Matt looked around the table. Everyone else seemed to understand and make sense of the comment. Clearly he was the only one out of the loop. He guessed it was an inside joke or maybe some political term that he'd yet to come across. He was starting to wish he had an acronym and description guide to make sense f everything he was learning. In the four days he'd been at the reunion he what been a shocking test in any political knowledge, he had. He leant so many acronyms for different things already.

"Part of the navy's sensitivity training," Kevin explained. "It was enacted shortly after woman were allowed in combat roles. Green light is normal behaviour, yellow light is something like a remark about how pretty someone looks and red light is unwanted touching and harassment or assault. Since Navy sailors are trained to follow orders it was thought a woman may not be comfortable telling a ranking officer to stop doing something. So they came up with this system."

"Ah," It made sense, but considering that the Navy was more of a boy's club then the fire department Matt would take a good guess in saying that a lot of the time it didn't work. Although he hoped that it had stopped some things from happening as well.

"Right, well we should go," Kevin nodded to Matt and they both stood up and left to go and start making plans to set up the play structures for the children.

"So," Gabby turned to look at Kevin's younger brother James, "Are you nervous about your first deployment next week?" James had just graduated from the Naval Academy and was set to board the USS Dwight D Eisenhower in following week.

"A little but I'm excited too this has been my dream since I was little. I have a lot to live up to though," He added with a sigh, "Dad said he'd try to make sure I didn't receive special treatment or any harsher treatment aboard. But I know I'm going to get some." He was having mixed feelings about his first deployment as word would quickly spread that his father was the Sectary of the Navy. "I'm no the same ship as Kevin too. I know it's the ship known to have the best Aviator program, which is what I want to be but I think its only going to make things worse."

Gabby was surprised that her uncle would allow his sons to be aboard the same ship, surely there were other good Aviation destroyers for James to be assigned too. She suspected though that her uncle might have requested the placing so Kevin could keep an eye on James. Kevin was, by all accounts born a Naval Aviator and he had all of the right skill sets for the job. James on the other hand was more of a computer science wiz then a naval aviator. He wasn't generally cocky or arrogant or confident. When he expressed his desire to go into the Navy and become a Naval Aviator the whole family was worried. His father was most likely worried something would go wrong for him and although he'd never cover anything up or let him slide on a punishment, he'd prefer that Kevin was there to help mentor and guide James.

"Just don't let anyone get to you." Gabby advised her younger cousin, "You know you're going to be good at your job. You've grown up on Navy ships. You know all of the ins and outs of them. I'm sure you'll make some good friends, if you have time." She added knowing life aboard a Naval ship was no picnic. They worked all hours of the night and rarely ahd any free time that they weren't using for eating or sleeping.

"I'll try," James nodded. He appreciated all of the advice he could get and knew Gabby knew what it was like to be judged on who your father was and not on abilities.

The White House playhouse was about as big as a large shed. The outside looked like the White House and on the inside was two smaller levels. There were two small tables, a desk and bookcase to be put on the first level. On the top level was an open area with velcroed down mats. The second level was thought of for the older girls to have sleepovers in, as on nice evenings the roof could be open and to have kind of a sleep-out. Along the walls on the top floors was a shelf that could be used for water bottles or bowls of chips and candy.

The two swing sets were also delivered the first one in, seven large boxes and the toddler one in two. As the trucks left Matt and Kevin looked at each other. "Okay," Matt looked around trying to get everyone's attention. He didn't want to stop bossing everyone around but by the look of things he and Kevin were probably the only two who knew what they were doing. There were twelve people helping out building and putting together the structures the others supervising the children in the pool. "Why don't we split up, have five or so people put together the smaller play set and set up the playhouse and the rest of us can start working on the larger one."

"It's a good thing you have a construction business," Nicolas, Kevin and James' younger brother told him, "We're all to rich to know what we're doing," He figured that everyone was trying to avoid the topic of Matt knowing construction and not growing up as rich and privileged as the majority of the rest of the adults did.

"Speak for yourself Nick," Antonio rolled his eyes, "I can put together a play set." He'd always wanted to set one up for his children but he was always so busy. Lately it seemed he was spending less and less time with them. When Laura had told him she was pregnant with Santiago he had, for a while questioned did the baby was his or not. It was only when he remembered the night did he feel a little better about the situation. Still that was another red flag, his marriage and his entire life seemed to be slipping further and further away from him.

"Sure," Rafael rolled his eyes and started laughing at his cousin, "Antonio you're good at a lot of things, not that you need an ego boost but I'd love to see you do this without any help from Matt."

"Oh cool!" Diego ran towards them, "Daddy can I help?" He asked his father, he was dressed in a green bathing suit and even though he had dark complexion it was clear he hadn't had sunscreen put on in awhile.

"Diego," Antonio looked down at his son, "You know you're not supposed to see this." He went to pick him up but Diego skirted away, "Where's your mother?" He wondered how Diego could go without sunscreen for this long and why Laura wasn't aware he was gone.

"Santiago's being really bad. He's screaming and crying and Mommy's not happy at all. She's not being very nice," Diego poisoned out, "Is it because you and Mommy are fighting?" He asked. He was very aware of his surroundings and very smart, Antonio wasn't surprised he'd picked something up. Although no matter how smart his eight-year-old son was, he wasn't preparing for the next question, "Eva said you and Mommy are getting a divorce. Are you?"

Antonio ignored everyone now looking at him, all probably wondering the same thing. Laura had brought up the topic of divorce more times then he'd ever admit lately. He wasn't getting a divorce though, they could work thins out without therapy too. At leas that's what he kept telling himself.

"No Diego," Antonio told him seriously, "Sometimes adults fight and right now your mother and I are fighting. You don't have to worry about anything though. Now lets go back to the pool."

"Mommy told Tia Gabby that she' glad she doesn't have t see you much today," Diego informed his father.

Antonio shook his head. He wished his wife wouldn't talk about their problems, openly like that, especially to his younger sister and when their children could overhear things.

"Well then I'll take you," Matt stepped forward and took Diego into his arms, "How about we go and find some freezes too."

"Basement, freezer," Antonio told Matt. He was glad Diego liked Matt but it made him frustrated when, because or it spit o his current marital problems Diego seemed to like Matt more.

"Alright, just open the boxes and start by organizing things by size," Matt instructed, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

The inflatable pool climber was large, taking up most of the pool and leaving just enough space for the children to swim towards it. Near the shallow end there was a climbing wall and a slide and a few things to jump on. Towards the deeper water there were more climbing walls and an obstacle course with lots of punching bags and other obstacles. At the end of the obstacle course there was a large slide.

The children's laughter could be heard around almost the entire area. Matt carried Diego onto the large pool deck and set him down. "That's pretty cool," He pointed to the climber, "Can I use it?"

"No Matt!" He shook his head and laughed. He went running off to go back in the pool but Gabby snuck up behind him.

"Diego Dawson!" She turned him around, "You know better then to run off! Where were you?"

"I went to see Daddy. He says I don't need any stupid sun screen." Diego lied to his aunt. He hated the feel of sunscreen and he never burnt anyways. Plus he knew his father didn't wear any so why should he have to?

"You don't talk like that," Gabby led him away, "You had your mother worried sick. She went inside to look for you."

"With Santiago," Diego rolled his eyes.

"That's enough," Gabby told him sternly as she began putting on sunscreen, "You keep it up and you can go back inside and do some chores. And don't you dare pull away from me," She grabbed his hand as he turned to run away.

"If you don't get sunscreen on you can't come and get freezies with me," Matt didn't like how the boy was acting.

Diego shook his head but stood and let Gabby apply sunscreen to him. When she was finished she put a shirt over his head. "Thank you Diego. Now you listen to me. You younger brother is inside and your mother is taking care of him." She looked to see Eva needed more sunscreen as well and reminded herself to call her out of the water shortly, "You need to listen to the other adults right now. You know how this works young man, you respect all adults and you behave nicely and politely."

"Yes Ma'am," Diego hated being punished in front of large groups, it always mad him feel so ashamed.

"Good now go and get some freezies with Mat," Gabby ushered him away. Turning to Matt she said, "There in my parent's cabin in the basement. There's a large freezer and you'll find them. Just grab all of them. There should be more then enough. There's a cooler near the freezer and grab scissors too."

"I got it," Matt nodded.

"Lets go Diego," Matt took the boy's hand and led him away. Twenty minutes later they returned with the freeze's. "Alright Diego now you can find the colour everyone want's alright."

"Okay," Diego nodded his head. He was more then happy to help Matt out, He liked helping, especially in a somewhat leadership role.

"Who want's a freezie?" Matt called out. The pool cleared and all of the kids ran towards him all talking at the same time. "Hey!" He called out sternly, "That's enough!" He'd dealt with angry mobs before, this was nothing, "Form a line and you can all have one. Just tell Diego what colour you want. Don't cry if you don't get the one you want."

Holding Daniela Gabby stood back and watched in amazement. Matt was a natural leader and had take-charge attitude. He easily got the kids organized into a line. Some of the kids complied the line was taking to long but Matt told them that if they complied they wouldn't get one and she figured they knew he was serious as they stopped fussing.

"Matt's a firefighter right?" Audrey, Kevin's wife asked. She was carrying her two children, two-year-old Sophia and seven month old Charlotte. She put Sophia on the ground next to Daniela, bot girls smiling at each other.

"Yeah. But he's a natural leader, he loves kids and they respect him. He has that personality, soft yet strict," Gabby attempted to explain to her. She continued to watch Matt with the children and found herself, not fir the first time picturing there on children in the future. She imagined them having three children, possibly a boy and two girls. She'd love it for their children to have his natural kindness and compassion. Matt had a tempter and she was stubborn so she knew any child they had would be hard-headed, she'd love them to use that to do goof things in the world not just in politics or being a fire fighter but doing whatever they wanted. No matter what she'd never expect them to be anything they didn't; want to do. She was lucky her father never pushed her to hard, she knew he at times pushed Antonio and Antonio often resented that, he was never allowed to choose his own path. Although if he had he might have gone into politics but he might have stayed in the Marines longer as well or even in the Chicago Police Force as he quite liked being a Detective.

"Want to come and get a freezie with us Sophia?" She picked up both girls in her arms

"You two each agree on a colour and then you can spilt it," Gabby explained, she hoped that they'd be able to agree on a colour. There was over a year age difference between the two and developmentally there was a wide range as well. Daniela was talking quite well and she was able to do more things like the older children although slower, Sophia had just turned two and was still getting a hold on talking and even at times walking long distances.

"No red?" Daniela pouted, "Blue pees," She saw a nice blue one. The blue ones always tasted really good too. She looked at Matt and smiled, "Matt!" She clapped, "Eia Matt," She pulled on the girl's hand as if she was introducing them.

Sophia waved a little before seeing the freezies and pointing excitedly to them.

"Alright," Matt laughed a little. He took a blue freezie and cut it giving each girl a small half.

"Tank woo Matt," Daniela said taking the freezie.

Sophia looked at Matt and moved her hand from her chin and then looked at him wait for a reaction.

"That's 'thank-you' in sign language," Gabby explained, "Sometimes babies are taught sign language to make in easier to commutate until they can talk."

"You're welcome," Matt kissed Sophia on the cheek and then kissed Daniela.

"Alright girls," Audrey stepped forward and led them away, "Let sit down and eat these. You can have some water too and I can give Charlotte a snack."

"Any left for me?" Gabby looked at Matt.

"Here Tia Gabby!" Diego pulled out another blue freezie "I told Matt blue ones were your favourite."

"Well thank you," Gabby took it and smiled, she ruffled the boys hair. "Have you already had a freezie?" She asked, when he nodded his head in acknowledgment she said, "You can go and swim now if you want. Just remember no running away."

"Here," Matt handed Gabby the scissors, "I should go back to helping set up everything."

Setting up everything took longer then originally expected, when Matt got back to the area he saw that everyone was still trying to figure out where to put everything and the instructions on how to build the climber. They all knew it was going to be a big climber but it seemed to be very complicated to set up. The toddler climber for the most part was already set up and so Kevin handed the detections for the big climber to Matt and he studded them for about fifteen minutes. From that he as able to get a sense of how it would look and what needed to be done.

Four hours and a lot of swearing later the climber was set up. It was in the shape of an open tree house almost, with two slides on opposite ends and a small rock climber wall and rope to get to the top. Stretching out of the climber were four swings one of which was a baby swing.

Since it had been hard to keep eighteen children in one area almost all day word got out about what was going on. All of the children were excited and impatient and when they were finally told they could go explore they all went nuts.

The young school age children ran right to the huge climber and began trying everything. Diego especially loving the rock climbing walls as he and the other boys had competitions to see who could go up the fastest.

"Hey!" Kevin scooped up Sophia into his arms before she could get to the playground, "Listen up kids!" All noise stopped, they knew that tone of voice, "I want all of you to thank Matt. He worked really hard to put this together, without him you wouldn't be playing on this.

"Thank you Matt!" Sang an out-of-sync ring of children's voices.

"You're welcome," Matt appreciated the thanks but hearing the laugh and seeing them all have so much fun was all of the thanks he needed. Feeling the sweat beating down his face he decided he needed to swim to cool down before dinner. He walked up to Gabby, who was pushing Daniela on a swing and smiled,

"Tank woo Matt!" Daniela smiled broadly at him, "Watch me go high!" She laughed as Gabby pushed her and she went higher and higher.

"Pretty soon you're going to be able to touch the clouds," He joked back. He walked to Gabby and stood behind her, "You want to go and have a swim with me before dinner?"

Gabby felt her body tighten at the suggestion. She wanted to but Antonio and Laura were having a huge fight in the main house and she wanted to keep Daniela occupied.

"I need to stay with Daniela. Her P-A-R-E-NT-S are F-I-G-H-T-I-N-G" She spelt out the words so Daniela wouldn't understand.

"Someday I'll know how to spell," Daniela frowned; she hated it when adults spelt words out. She wanted to know what was going on and not be so left out. She wanted to be like Eva who she thought knew what was going on. In reality she didn't but she had an idea and it only made her angry and hurt.

"I'll watch her," Stella offered walking up to the couple. "I miss when Maddie was this young." When she was younger she'd wanted more then one child, but fate seemed to have different ideas for her. The older she got the less and less likely it wad for her to meet someone and have another biological child. She didn't even know if she would be willing to put her career on hold to do it but she'd like the option.

"Thanks Stella," Gabby smiled gratefully to her cousin.

"You're welcome," She winked, she knew what was going to happen, "Remember to keep this G rated." She laughed.

"We will," Gabby promised her, although it would be hard to do so, she couldn't wait until she and Matt had a hotel room to themselves and she knew what the first thing she anted to do was.

Gabby was already in her bathing suit and since Matt didn't want to go back into the main house he just swam in his shorts. He jumped into the deep end and felt immediately refreshment when he resurfaced. The inflatable obstacle course had been removed so there was plenty of room to swim. He looked at Gabby who was wearing a two piece bathing suit and swam up to her, "Come on Babe!"

"Oh yeah," Gabby pulled herself together and sat down and slipped into the pool. She'd been admiring his wet chest, watching as the water trailed down underneath his shorts. Usually she didn't have these kinds of thoughts, she didn't know if it was because it had been so long but she was getting turned on.

When Gabby was in the water Matt wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, the kiss was sweet and long, both of them savouring the moment alone time they had together.

"I love you," Matt spoke lovingly to her as their lips pulled apart, "You pushing Daniela on the swings was so sexy." He loved seeing her with children, her maternal instinct were so natural.

"I love you too. You're the one who's great with the kids. The way you got them all o line up and I know you put together the climber on your own."

"I directed people," He corrected her although she was right; he did most of the work as the others were finding it rather difficult.

"Call it whatever you want," Gabby kissed him again.

"Hey Matt!" Kevin walked into he pool area covering his eyes, "Want a beer? Or are you and my cousin doing something I don't want to know about?"

Gabby tried to splash him but he was to far away, "Kevin! Can't anyone get any privacy in this family?" She smiled, as he got close enough to splash.

"No. Antonio and Laura are throwing things at each other, she wants to leave him, something about a deal he shouldn't be making."

"Oh boy," Gabby ran a hand over her face, this was bad, "I have to go," She gave Matt another kiss, climbed out of the pool got her clothes on and jogged back to the main house. She opened the door and heard yelling. Both of them were crying and seemed emotionally drained.

"I said I'm done Antonio!" Laura backed away raising her arms and raced out of the house and past Gabby without even looking at her.

Gabby really hoped she hadn't heard right but seeing how angry and hurt her brother was she fussed she had, "Antonio?" She looed at him, "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it!" He began punching on fist into the palm of his hand.

Gabby wasn't having it, "Is she leaving? Taking the kids and going back to D.C?"

"No. She wants us to get therapy but that's...you know that'll look bad, especially with an election coming up."

He was right but so was Laura, "Antonio right now I think you need to not be worried about the election. You guys need to sort this out. All of us want things to work out. The press will say more bad things if you get a divorce, counselling mead you want to work things out, it make you look more human."

"Not to the opposition," He pointed out, "She's mostly mad because I'm closing in on a deal she doesn't like."

"That doesn't sound like Laura," Gabby knew the other woman very well. Things wouldn't get this bad this fast over that. "What else is going on? I know you've been having small arguments since before Santiago was born but this is worse."

"It's not the best deal but it'll help me get re-elected. Look. If I tell you you'll hate me too. The only reason I told Laura was because she walked in on the phone call. I don't like going against Pop but.." As soon as he said that he knew he was dead.

"Antonio!" Gabby shook her head, "If you go against Dad you'll ruin your career not to mention hurt the family. I can see you don't want to make this deal. Whatever it is can't be worth all of this pain? Is it just for money? Just to get away from Dad? What is it?"

It was everything but Antonio didn't want to tell her anyone. She wasn't seeing it from his point of view and he was tired of defending himself. He turned and walked outside and didn't look back.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** Uh-oh what's going to happen to Laura and Antonio's marriage? Will they get a divorce?


	15. Alone Time

**A\N:** Wow! So its been a super long time since I've updated and I apologize for that. I wanted my friend to be able to help me write this chapter and since she did its borderline M rated. She's super busy with real life and so I'm I so that's why this chapter took so long to write and post.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warnings** **:** Borderline M rating.

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

Matt stepped into the suite and put his bags on the floor, Gabby behind him doing the same thing. He knew they were staying in a Presidential Suite but he wasn't sure what to expect, this was beyond anything he was expecting. The sitting area had a large couch, two chairs, a fireplace and a large flat-screen TV. Walking further into the suite he entered the gourmet kitchen and walk in pantry. Next to the kitchen was a long hallway leading off to a door that had a key card entrance. Hearing footsteps behind him he turned to Gabby for an explanation.

"That's a attached room. For security guards or even just for extra space," She explained, "It has two queen sized beds and a washroom and a TV."

"So basically it's a normal hotel room," He commented. He turned around to look at her and when she didn't respond he realized she'd probably never been in a regular hotel room before. When she was born, her father was Governor of Illinois. She'd never known a life without security guards or hotel suites. He gave her a long lingering kiss; she had no idea how down to earth she was considering how she was raised. That was one of the qualities he loved most about her.

Gabby breathed a hot breath against his lips. It had been two weeks since they were intimate together and she needed him desperately. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered into his ear, "Down the other hallway is the bedroom and an en-suite with a Jacuzzi tub. Why don't we go and try it out?"

"I think we should," Matt backed her against a wall, his need for her growing. He began to run his hands under her shirt and kissed her again when there was a knock at the front door to the suite.

Gabby backed away and sighed. "That's probably my father's chief of staff's assistant. He's going to give us our itinerary for the week," She walked towards the front door.

Matt nodded; the suite had a private entrance with security cameras that Gabby's Secret Service guards would be monitoring. There was a very small chance that whoever was behind the door wasn't someone pre-cleared. Gabby checked through the peephole and then stepped back and unlocked the door, "Evan Courskswi right?" She asked the very timid looking man. He couldn't be older then twenty-one.

"Yes Ma'am," He nodded and nervously stepped into the suite. When his boss had told him, that since he was accompanying the president on his summit trip to Europe, and that the First Lady's Chief of Staff was with her, he'd be delivering the official itinerary to Gabriela Dawson. He was at first quite nervous as he had little contact with the President let alone the first daughter who he, like so many other men in the country and probably around the world had a crush on.

"Is this our itinerary for the week?" Gabby could see he was shy. She understood why he'd be nervous but she didn't like it when people were afraid to be around her, as if they thought she was powerful. She wasn't, she just happened to be born into he right family, that's what she was raised to believe. Her parents had instilled on her the importance of using her status to help as many people as she could and to always be kind.

"Oh…yes…" Evan stuttered as he handed over the red three-ring binder. "Everything is in their as well as any information you may need. If there's anything else you need from me, I attached my card to the first page." He explained.

"Thank you." Gabby smiled. "Well I'll le you go now I'm sure you have lots of things to do."

"Yes Ma'am." Evan nodded and left.

Gabby shook her head and sighed as she locked the door, "I hate it when people call me Ma'am. It makes me feel so old." She opened up the binder and scanned the weekly itinerary, everything seemed rather ordinary, expect for one thing. She sat down on the couch and grinned looking up at Matt. "This is interesting. On Wednesday, we're going to Quantico for the day. We're going to tour the grounds, well I'm meeting with some of the soldiers stationed there and you, are going to tour two of the fire stations there." She handed over the itinerary for him to read.

"Wow," He breathed out as he read the detailed itinerary, every second was accounted for. "Is this how you've spent your life? Being scheduled like this?" He wondered.

"Sometimes. It's just for security purposes really and to make sure everything gets covered. I thought you'd like it. You know so you know what to expect." She knew he was still getting used to being her boyfriend, being in the spotlight and having security around him.

"Yeah I do," Matt took a seat beside her, "And I have to say I am excited to tour Quantico but I'm more excited for this," He leaned into her body, pressing her back onto he couch as he kissed her. Just as the kiss deepened her cell phone rang in her pocket.

"Don't answer it." He whispered.

Gabby couldn't do that, she'd be to worried it was something serous, "I'm sorry Matt," She sat up running a hand over her face as she answered, "Gabriela Dawson."

"Gabby hi," Laura's somewhat shaken voice greeted on the other end of the line.

"Laura. What's wrong? Is it Antonio?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I just… we had another fight and I just need someone to talk too." She had friends but they were wives of other politicians and she didn't want any rumours to start. Gabby, Stella and Rafael's wife were the only other woman she could speak to where she knew it wouldn't get passed on.

"Where are you?" Gabby wanted to do everything she could to help her brother and sister in-law.

"I'm at Fashion Centre. I know it's a way's away but I just needed to go out. I have Daniela and Santiago with me. I gave Yolanda the day off, that was part of the fight with Antonio."

"I'm leaving now," Gabby could tell the sense of urgency in her sister in-law's voice, "I'll text you when I'm there."

"I'm sorry Gabby. I know this is going to be a nightmare for your Secret Service agents." Laura knew open spaces with lots of people and hiding places were never good places.

"No problem, I need some new clothes anyways. You're family and you need me," She added.

Laura smiled. "Thank you," She hung up.

Gabby got off the couch and looked apologetically at Matt, "Laura's really upset. These fights between her and Antonio are getting worse and worse. I'm going to go and shop with her for a few hours. Do you think you could go and meet Kevin on your own?"

"Yeah I think so," Matt got along well with her cousin when they were putting together the play sets at Camp David, "I can go on my own right? I don't need any security?"

"No, just text him to let him know what's going on and he can pick you up here." She explained as she began texting her Secret Service Agents. Finishing the text message she put the phone in her pocket and leaned in to kiss him "I'm sorry. I promise when we're both back here we can have a nice dinner. "I'm really sorry but Laura really needs me."

Matt was disappointed, he wanted to be with her, needed to feel her inside him However another thing he loved about her was how much her family meant to her, "I love you Gabby. You're so well off, your entire family is but you're so kind and nice and… and you could really be a spoiled brat but you're not. And I love how you'd drop anything for your family." He stood up and pulled her into his arms kissing her.

Pulling away from the kiss Gabby blushed, his words had meant a great deal to her as she often worried she did come off as spoiled. "I love you too," She gave him another kiss.

* * *

Gabby walked to where she and Laura had agreed to meet. All for of her Secret Service Agents following her discreetly in plain clothes. As always she looked around and was vigilant to anyone who may notice her and become a problem. Right now everyone appeared to be minding their own business, on their phones or talking, going in and out of the stores around her.

"Tia Gabby!" Daniela yelled happily as she saw her aunt; she was sitting in the front part of the stroller while Santiago was in the back.

"Hi sweetie," Gabby bent down and kissed her niece's head, "I hope you're being good for Mommy and staying in the stroller."

"I wish," Laura sighed and breathed deeply. She looked at her sister in-law and sighed, 'Thank you for coming." She looked tired and warn-out.

"Of course," Gabby pulled her into a hug, "Now tell me what's going on. Start at the beginning if you want. You two have been having problems since before Santiago was born."

"Yeah," Laura acknowledged, "These past few years have been really stressful, this past year especially. Antonio's really happy your Dad is President, he's extremely proud but it makes his job so much harder and at times when he works all night. I wonder if maybe…." She couldn't; say the words, "I mean woman throw themselves at him and there are always ladder climbing woman and…"

"I know my brother. He loves you Laura and if he is or ever has cheated on you believe me he'll be the one everyone hates, my parents included. They wouldn't stand for that."

"I know," It did make her feel a little better to know that unless she did something horrible, like cheat on Antonio she'd always have her in-law's backs. "It's not just that. It is but I'm just worried he's doing things he'll regret later, I know politics isn't pretty but I just don't think he's thinking clearly and his advisors will tell him whatever he wants to hear. He needs someone impartial to talk to him. Your father used to guide him but Antonio just hates going to him now. He's so afraid of what it'll look like.

Gabby had no idea how stressed out her brother must be. How much of a hard job he had now. If people weren't waiting for him to mess up before his father was President then they for were waiting now. He had the whole world wanting to know everything about him all the time and when he had a teenage daughter who was constantly on social media that became a problem. Eva understood why she couldn't tweet or be on Instagram like other teenagers but she often forgot or simply disobeyed the rule citing celebrities that always tweeted. She didn't understand that she was still only a child and needed to be protected as well.

As Laura and Gabby made their way into stores, Gabby continued to be vigilant of someone who may cause problems. She and Laura walked into a children's clothing store and Laura turned to Gabby, "Diego needs new shoes again. And new clothes he's growing like a weed. Yolanda was going to go shopping for him but I said I wanted to go. When I called Antonio and told him he said I needed to be at this dinner tonight with him. But I… you know I hate it when Yolanda looks after the children."

Gabby knew, for lack of a better word Laura was often very jealous when the children's nanny Yolanda made them feel better or took them places. She absolutely hated the idea of another woman raising her children. She often decided not to accompany Antonio places so she could spend more time with the children. When Antonio would question it she told him the kids needed one constant parent at home.

"I can't imagine how stressful that must be." Gabby chose to word her response carefully as she knew how sensitive of a topic it was.

"I know but I need to support Antonio too." She sighed and shook her head. "This past year has been so crazy I just worry… I want to fix things but all we do is argue and he pretends like there's nothing wrong. I want to be able to talk about things, counselling would be ideal but…"

"Do you want me to talk to him?" She asked as Laura began to look at shoes for Diego. "You know after lunch tomorrow with Stella and Lucy."

"No its alright he doesn't like me talking to you about these things. He still thinks or you as a child sometimes. I was going to wait until tomorrow but I needed someone to talk to today and Stella's working and Lucy has the kids.

"I like helping, Gabby patted her hand and gave her a reassuring smile, "But later on I am going to go shopping on my own and pick up a few things.

"Oh," Laura's interest was peaked, she looked at the other woman, "Something Matt would like?"

"Possibly," She told herself not to blush, "But for now lets get Diego some new clothes and shoes."

Laura nodded and they continued to look around for some shoes for Diego. She settled on two pairs of sneakers and new soccer cleats. One pair of sneakers had Captain America on them (his favourite superhero) and the other ones that were black and had soccer balls on them. His soccer cleats were the newest ADIDAS soccer cleats on the marker as he played for a rep team that played other teams D.C. Maryland and Virginia,

Once they'd finished getting Diego's shoes, they went into a store to look for clothes and Laura sighed, "I don't want me looing after the kids to end our marriage. I just want to be in their lives. I don't like both Antonio and I being away from them so much. Especially now that Eva's becoming a real headache to deal with. And Yolanda knows how to deal with her better then I do. I just get so angry and a lot of the time I take it out on her, which I know isn't fair."

"I think you wanting to spend time with the kids proves you're a good mother. And I think Yolanda knows that, but if I'm being honest you know that you need to help Antonio and be there to support him too. Next year is going to be crazy when he starts re-campaigning for election and I know you both know you need to be on the same page by then. I think maybe you and Antonio need to sit down and just hear each other out. Make him tell you about how he's frustrated because Papa is President. And you and Yolanda can come up with a schedule where you make time to see the kids. I know you don't want her raising them which is good but she's there to help and you do have other things to do." Gabby hated being so blunt with her but she knew it needed to be done.

"You make all of that sound so easy." She sighed, "Antonio doesn't want to hear about us fighting and needing to work things out so it's hard to talk to him about it. And Yolanda is a sweet girl, I don't want to seem like we don't need her anymore."

"I know it'll be hard but you need to do it."

"I know." Laura sighed as she turned and walked to a mall directory of stores. Diego, Daniela and Santiago all needed more clothes and Eva wanted to re-decorate her bedroom so she wanted to look into that. She needed to go to three different floors to get everything she needed and she mapped out her route in her head. Looking at Gabby she said, "You go and get what you need and we can meet at the food court in two hours."

Two hours later Gabby returned to the food court and spotted Laura with kids at a table so she went to join them.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?" Laura smirked at her sister-in-law.

"Maybe." Gabby said, coy.

"You don't need to tell me anything, it'll be all over your face when I see you next time." Gabby waved her off but her blush gave her away. They went in turn to get some food so the kids wouldn't be left alone and they managed to have a nice lunch without being bothered by anyone, Gabby's secret service detail hanging back the whole time.

* * *

"I hope everything is okay with Laura," Kevin commented as he and Matt sat outside on the patio of a nice D.C. restaurant. The restaurant was crowded and there were many people on the street but he wasn't worried about being recognized. Half of the country didn't even know what the Secretary of the Navy was let alone that his father was him.

Matt didn't want to give away to much information, not knowing how much Kevin knew, "I think she just needed someone to talk to."

Kevin nodded as he took a drink, the cold water feeling good as it went down his throat, "Gabby and Laura have been close for a long time but Gabby didn't like her at first, used to play pranks and tricks on her."

"Really?" Matt didn't know that, although he wasn't surprised Gabby and Antonio were very close and he could imagine a young Gabby feeling jealous of Laura.

"Yeah but once Gabby was a little older she liked Laura, now they're best friends. You know my daughter asked me to give you this," He pulled out a folded piece of paper.

Matt opened it and saw the drawing that the toddler had made, "What is it?" He asked.

"It's you building the climber," He chuckled, "I told her I was going to be seeing you and she got all excited because she loved the climber so much."

Matt folded back up the paper and tucked it into his pocket. Looking at Kevin he could tell how much he loved his family and how much it must e for him to leave them, "So tell me what its like on a Navy Warship. You leave tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, for 18 months." He confirmed, "Sophia will be 3, almost 4 when I come back and Charlotte will be 2. I'm going to miss two of her birthdays," He let out a frustrated growl, "I already missed her birth," He shook his head. Looking up he realized he still didn't know Matt well enough to say things like that, "I'm sorry Man it-"

"No its alright, I can't imagine how hard it must be for you. I know Chicago and D.C. are a long ways away but tell your wife I'll help out anyway I can."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Kevin grinned, "So you want to know about life aboard a ship?"

"Yeah," Matt nodded.

* * *

Gabby drove back to the hotel she was staying at with Matt and was happy to find that he wasn't there, giving her all the time in the world to get ready so she could surprise him. First she placed some candles all over the room, leading into the bathroom where the Jacuzzi tub was, placing some candles all around it too.

She had already given her instructions to her Secret Service team not to be disturbed during the evening, room service being told to stay on stand-by as well for when they'd be hungry, hopefully much later in the evening. Once she was satisfied with the look of the room, she took her purchases and went to the bathroom to get changed. Matt had promised to text her so they could meet up in the occurrence that the other would still be out and about.

Gabby looked down as her phone dinged and she read Matt's message and she smiled, finishing to apply the bright shade of red to her lips and fixed her hair so it was in soft curls on her shoulder. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror and was finally satisfied with her reflection. She smiled one last time and lit all the candles, making her way to the Jacuzzi and sitting on the side, her legs crossed, waiting.

Little time passed before the hotel room door opened and Matt walked in. "Baby, I really need to take a show." His word caught in his throat as he finished taking his shirt off, his eyes falling on Gabby's body.

"We haven't had some real time alone and I thought I'd surprise you." She stood and smiled at him.

"Beautiful surprise." He eyes her body up and down.

"I figured you'd like the red." She stood, her voice laced with lust.

"I love the red." He licked his lips as he closed the gap between the two of them, dipping his head and capturing her lips in searing kiss. Her hands came to sit on his waist as he pulled her into him, his tongue darting past her lips in dominance.

"I think you're a little too overdressed." She whispered as their lips parted.

"What are you going to do about it?" He kissed her again. Gabby struggled to untie his shorts as he deepened the kiss, her knees weak. Matt's body was covered in a thin layer of sweat from his run but it made him all the more sexy to her. She managed to undo the strings and pushed his shorts down to his ankle, Matt stepping out of them.

His hand expertly unclasped her bra and his finger hooked around a strap and slid it down each shoulder before he let it fall to the ground, the pile of clothes growing as their lips stayed attached, their tongue battling for control.

Once they were both stripped of their clothes, with Matt's help, Gabby pushed herself off the floor and wrapper her legs around his waist, their lips never breaking contact. Matt walked them into the Jacuzzi and sat down.

"Finally we can have some real alone time." He pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"With no one to interrupt us this time." Gabby smiled at him before her lips found the skin of his neck, Matt moaning with the feeling she was stirring inside of him.

"Gabby." He growled as she bit down not so gently there.

"Mmm?" She asked innocently.

"You keep going like that and this evening will end prematurely."

"Now we can't have that."

"No we can't." He took her lips again and they made out until they needed to come up for air. "So you did all of this for us?" He looked at the candles around the tub and his eyes fell on the bottle of wine and the two glasses.

"I figured we deserved it after all the interruptions we've had in the past." She moved off his lap and poured them each a glass.

"I know it's not easy to fit some alone time in your busy schedule." He took a sip of his glass, pulling her back onto his lap.

"It doesn't mean anything if I can't share it all with you so this is one of my ways of showing you how much you mean to me." She moved in to capture his lips in hers. Their tongues battled for dominance as their wine glasses lay untouched on the side of the tub. Matt's hands lingered on her hips until he gently raised her up and slid her on his hard member, her head tilting backwards in pleasure. With his help, she rocked her hips back and forth, causing friction between their bodies. Matt's lips traced the outline of her shoulder and her fingers pressed harder against his shoulder blade. The hot water around them only heightened their desire, Matt pushing them both up, Gabby securing her legs around his waist and walking out of the bathroom, the two not caring about the trail of water they were leaving behind them.

Matt laid her down, her back touching gently against the mattress and slowly started rocking in and out of her, Gabby lost in the pleasure he was giving her. He moved faster as he felt she was close, his name tumbling from her lips as she fell over the edge, Matt following closely behind. He made sure to muffle her screams with his lips, not wanting to get unwanted attention from her Secret Service team. They lay against each other, wrapped in the sheets, their body covered in sweat and their breathing laboured.

"You were amazing." Matt moved to his side and kissed her shoulder.

"You weren't too bad yourself." She tried to get her breathing even but just having Matt next to her was making her heart beat faster. Matt pulled her to him and kissed her.

"How about that food now?" He rubbed his nose against hers.

"I'm hungry for waffles." She giggled.

"I'm still hungry for you." He kissed her deeply.

"Well if you want to go again, I'll need to bring my energy levels up."

"Than waffles it is." He leaned over her to grab the phone and called for room service. He ordered the, some waffles with a big plate of fruit and another bottle of wine. They made out while they waited, food forgotten for a little bit until there was a knock on their door. Matt pulled himself from the warmth of the covers and slipped his boxers back on before he went to answer the door. It came on a small cart and he rolled it all the way to the bed.

"Break is served." He took the plate with him on the bed and lay down next to Gabby who had taken a sitting position to eat.

"Thanks." She took the plate he handed her and digged in. "These are AMAZING. You need to try them." She moved a new forkful to his mouth and he took a bite.

"You're right, they are good." Gabby giggled for no reason. "What's so funny?"

"You have chocolate on your lips." She pressed a finger to his lips and removed the small spot, licking it off her finger.

"You're so hot when you do that." He pushed himself off the bed and cupped her cheek, running his thumb against it.

"Who needs food anyways." She whispered, setting her plate down on the side table without looking, Matt crushing his lips against hers, the two slipping into the sheets for the last lingering hours of the day.

* * *

Laura was sitting on a bench near the Congress Building on her cell phone. Last night when Antonio had gotten home she'd tried to talk to him but he was still too angry with her for not accompanying him to the dinner party. The Senate started back up again today and she was waiting until Antonio texted her that it was lunch break so she could meet him at his office. Looking up when she heard Gabby call her name she smiled at her and Matt walking towards her.

"Hey," She grinned, "The session shouldn't be to much longer," She looked at the time on her phone, "And we should have plenty of time for lunch. Antonio promised me he'd make sure his staff knew that he'd be bring you guys by."

Matt looked up at the building, of course he'd seen it in the news and at in the movies but he'd never imaged he'd get a behind the scenes tour. He was excited to be given a tour but since this was business as usual for Gabby he didn't want to look silly about being too excited about it. Antonio and his cousins Stella and Rafael were going to give him a tour of the building while Gabby went out to lunch with Stella, Laura and Rafael's wife. He was a little nervous about being alone with Antonio and his cousin, as he knew they'd be asking questions but after spending a week with them he knew what to expect which made him feel better.

"Okay." Laura's phone dinged and she opened up the text message, "He said they're finished now. You've been pre-screened so getting in shouldn't be much trouble," She explained as she led them up the stairs to the entrance. She went to security to show them her badge and then the officer checked Matt and Gabby through the system and gave them visitor passes that allowed them access into public restricted areas.

Matt looked around as they walked into a hallway and to an elevator and up to the second story. They exited the elevators and were met with a flurry of activities. People were rushing around in different rooms and didn't seem to notice them at all. One young man looked up from a folder another young man was holding and approached them.

"Mrs. Dawson right?" He looked at Laura and then clarified, "My names Daniel Miller. I'm one of Senator Dawson interns. I recognized you from your picture on his desk. Not that I look at it a lot but…" He suddenly realized how it sounded.

"It's fine," Laura waved him off, "This is my sister in-law Gabby and her boyfriend Matt," Laura introduced, "Can you take us to Antonio's office. We're supposed to meet him for lunch."

"Of course. Senator Dawson told us you'd be coming." Daniel told the other intern he'd be right back and led them down a hallway and knocked on a door that had Antonio's name on it. Antonio yelled to enter and looked up.

"Look who I found Sir," Daniel told his boss as Laura, Gabby and Matt entered his office. Antonio's desk was at the back of the room next to a window. In the middle of the room was a couch and chair with a table in the middle and along the walls were two bookshelves lined with books.

"Thank you Daniel." Antonio excused his intern who nodded and left the office, closing the door on his way out. Antonio stood and walked to Laura giving her a kiss on the lips. Then he hugged Gabby and kissed her cheek and shook Matt's hand. "So Rafael should be here soon. He had a bit of work to do before the tour," Antonio looked at his cell phone, "And Stella said that you could meet her and Lucy in her office." Antonio said looking at his wife and sister, "Stella's office is down one floor. Just go right in the first hallway you see and then turn left and you should see it"

"You and Rafael better not do anything bad to Matt," Gabby warned her older brother, "Giving him that broken nose was bad enough, if you do anything on purpose…" She looked seriously at Antonio.

"You're invited too Gabby," Antonio told her, "I know it doesn't interest you since you've already see anything but if it'll make you feel better…" Antonio informed her just as Rafael walked into the office.

"Well this is rude," Antonio rolled his eyes, "Haven't you heard of knocking?" He bugged his cousin. "Or is that something that they don't do in New York?

"Very funny. Gabby sent Stella a text saying they were here." He explained, "Stella made reservation at a restaurant. She and Lucy are going to meet you downstairs," Rafael looked at Gabby and Laura. "Relax Gabs. We're not going to murder Matt if we wanted to do that we wouldn't do it here."

"Rafael!" Gabby punched his shoulder and glared at him, "That's not funny!"

Antonio and Rafael were both trying to suppress their laughter, "Antonio Dawson!" Laura hit him on the back of the head.

"Owe," Antonio rubbed the back of his head as Rafael laughed.

"That's from Lucy!" Antonio punched him in order to wipe the smirk off his face.

"Alright if you boys won't kill each other we'll go now," Laura informed them. She gave Antonio anther kiss and left with Gabby.

"Alright," Antonio turned to Matt as the door closed, "We can give you the tour in a few minutes but I have some questions first. Ever since you and Gabby started dating she's been acting off. She was definitively off at the reunion. Now I want to know if you know why."

Matt wanted to tell Antonio what was going on, how Gabby was afraid of Alex and what happened but he didn't want to betray her trust. She'd know he told them and when she needed his support the most she's be pushing him away. As much as it hurt him he knew it had to be Gabby's decision to tell her story.

"She was just really hoping I'd have a good time," Matt explained.

"Yeah but on the day that the photographers were there she seemed a bit off too and I saw a bruise on her. It looked like a scar. She dismissed it but if you're hurting her…" Rafael threatened.

"I'd never do anything to hurt Gabby!" Matt promised them. He was talking to two Harvard educated men and he hoped they'd be able to read between the lines and discover what he wasn't saying.

"There's something off about this," Antonio studied him, "After you not getting vetted right away and then Papa clearing you…. Something's going on."

"You want to know about my family?" Matt didn't want to revel the story but if it would help them get away from the idea he was hurting Gabby he would, "My father abused my sister and me as well as my Mother. She divorced him when I was fourteen. When I was sixteen I went to visit him and he told me I could never be a fire fighter and punched me. I got back home and was pretty upset. I went to bed and was woken up by the police saying my mother had been arrested for killing my father. She's serving a life sentence in jail. So I'd never hurt Gabby or anyone else because I've seen the pain abuse can cause and I know first hand how awful it can be."

Antonio and Rafael looked at each other, neither one knowing what to say. They hadn't known about Matt's past and although they both knew about the circle of abuse they both thought what Matt said was truthful.

After a few minutes of silence Antonio patted Matt's shoulder, "Sorry Bro, let's go on that tour now."

* * *

Looking up from her menu briefly Gabby said, "Matt and I are going tomorrow and I think he's pretty excited about going to tour some of the firehouses there. I hear they're pretty modern, state of the art in terms of equipment." She, Stella, Laura and Lucy were sitting on the porch of a fancy restaurant near the Congress Building. She sipped her wine and waited for a response.

"If he see's any single fire fighters tell me," Stella quipped in what was a very uncharacteristic comment. Stella was never one to chase after men and she hated to be treated as if she needed to be taken care of.

Deciding this might be what Stella needed to go on a date Gabby loaded a picture on her cell phone, "I don't know about Quantico fire fighters but here are Matt's two best friends. They work with him." She showed the picture of Matt, Kelly and Andy leaning against the front of Matt's fire truck, all smiling.

Stella's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the man with jet-black hair and a somewhat arrogant smile. Not wanting to show any kind of interest knowing that would get her set-up she smirked, "How many divorces do they have in between them?"

"Andy's happily married with two kids and Kelly's a proclaimed bachelor. But I think Kelly would make a excellent father," Gabby told them closing off the picture, "He'd be the strict and tough father when the kids were in trouble but I can see him having lots of fun and doing all kinds of things with them. Matt on the other hand would be strict and tough but a real softy too."

"Sounds about right," Laura who, other then Gabby knew Matt the best smiled.

As the other woman chatted, Stella zoned out and found herself imaging what Kelly was like. Was he what Gabby said or did she not know him well enough?" She caught herself thinking these things but quickly stopped. She was too busy to date and besides no man would want to take on Madeline, as she was too much of a handful.

Gabby walked back in their room and Matt was sitting on the couch, the TV on low, clearly not paying attention to it.

"Hey baby, how was the tour?" she plopped down next to him.

"I loved it but I'm glad it's over. How was lunch?" He kissed her.

"It was, educational." She smirked.

"Educational how?" He was intrigued now.

"I might have mentioned something about Kelly, picture and all to my cousin Stella and I think I saw something in her eyes."

"Is that so?" He gave her a smirk of his own. "I guess we might have to do something about that then won't we."

"How about we do something about us right now?" Gabby straddled him and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning down for a kiss. Matt put his hand on her hips and they spent the rest of the evening wrapped into each other, in their own little world.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** So, what did you think? Please review and let me know.


	16. Problems at Quantico

**A\N:** So sorry its taken me so long to update this story but real life has kept me pretty busy, plus I had major writers block for the longest time. I'm a little nervous about this chapter so please be honest in your opinions about it.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings** **:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Gabby woke up to her alarm clock and let out a frustrated sigh. She knew she had to get out of bed to get ready but she didn't want to. She turned off the alarm and snuggled back into Matt, "I set the alarm early so we'd have sometime before we needed to get ready," She responded looking up at him.

"Plus we could always shower together and save time," Matt kissed the top of her head, "We're leaving at six o'clock right?" They were supposed to be at the base before nine o'clock and with the traffic in and around D.C. in the morning he was told they'd need plenty of time.

"Yeah," She yawned, "Wear your suit that you wore at Camp David, a blue shirt would look nice."

Matt nodded, she'd explained to him a general idea of what was going to happen the night before. They'd arrive on base and be greeted then they'd go on a short tour, meet some people and go to the elementary school. After lunch she was going to tend to some official White House duties while he went to one of the fire stations on the base.

"If I don't get up now I'll never get up," She got out of bed and went into the closet to look for something to wear. It was a relatively hot day so she decided on a red dress. She found some heels and then turned around with the items in hand. Matt was watching her every move with a very naughty expression, "If we do that we'll most certainly be late!" She warned him.

"I can't help if you're incredibly sexy." He commented.

Blushing Gabby looked at him, "I'm going to go and have a shower."

Matt read between the lines and followed her into the washroom.

After going through the checkpoint to get into the city the SUV convey continued on its way towards the main entrance of the Marine Core Base. Gabby and Matt were in the second SUV along with two Secret Service guards. When they arrived at the base Matt was a little bit surprised to see quite a few people were waiting for them.

"Wow, you're important," Matt saw all of the Marie's salute as the convey came to a halt. He looked at Gabby and she only smiled. He knew who she was, but it had never really occurred to her what other people thought or would react to her. It was as if he was dating a celebrity. He was now more nervous the ever for the upcoming day.

A Marine opened the door and Gabby stepped out, "Thank you," She smiled sincerely at the man who couldn't have been older then twenty, "And thank you for serving the people of our country," She added.

Matt saw the young man try to hide a blush as he exited the SUV after Gaby. He looked around and realized there were lots of people there, reporters taking pictures and Marines there as part of their job. Matt knew on the inside Gabby was annoyed and worried, as she hated having her picture taken, but she was handling it very well. He however didn't know what to do as this was the first time they'd been at an event as a couple, with all that had been going on they hadn't had the chance to talk about it, he was now regretting that.

"Ms. Dawson, Mr. Casey welcome to Quantico. We're delighted to have you here," An older man approached them, "I'm General Walters. I'll be giving you your tour today. We're going to start at our Elementary school where we'll tour the classrooms and see some of the children."

Gabby nodded and listned as he continued to talk, she was touring the base today to see how much money would be needed to give more funding to Quantico and to other military bases. Coming from a military family and having served in the Marines her father wanted to do all that he could to help out all the branches of the military. A lot of the services vital to service members and their families didn't have funding and in some cases needed to be shut down, these serves consisted of things like helping children cope with parents deployment, injury and death and helping veterans find jobs after they left the service.

Walking up to the elementary school it was clear that it was newly built and state of the arch. Gabby knew that it had just opened the previous September and replaced the three former elementary schools on the grounds. Walking into the school General Walters led them to the main office where a middle age woman greeted them.

"Welcome to Quantico Elementary School. My names Samantha Downs, I'm the principal here. We've arranged for our Pre-K to grade two students to gather in our Library. We'd like to show you how to engage our youngest students with the use of Smart boards."

"Sounds great," Gabby smiled, she loved working with children and interacting with them and knew Matt would enjoy it as well. Quantico Elementary School was currently the only 21st century School in the military and Gabby knew that other larger bases would like to have newer schools as well.

Principal Downs led them to the library where as soon as they opened the doors were greeted with a loud 'welcome' by the young students, all with smiles on their faces. A few rushed over to Gabby, breaking away from their teacher's attempts to pull them back. Gabby gave them a hug each and then told them to return to their teachers.

"Is that little boy in trouble?" Matt saw a boy sitting in the back of the room crying.

"No," Principal Downs shook her head sadly, "That's one of our Grade One students, his father died three days ago overseas. Unfortunately he's taking it very hard. We have had school counsellors talk to him but he hasn't said a word."

"Oh," Matt sighed, he couldn't even image what the little boy was going through. He thought of his best friend's Andy's sons, only 8 and 6 and how traumatized they'd be if he died while on a call.

Seeing the photographers surround Gabby as she learnt how to use the Smart board Matt stepped back. He enjoyed watching Gabby interact and learn from some of the kids who were laughing and calling out instructions for her. However he kept thinking of the young boy sitting in the back. He hated not being able to do anything, that wasn't what he was used to. He decided to go over and try to talk to the boy, maybe get him to join his classmates.

"Can I sit here?" Matt asked pointing to the small chair beside the boy. He didn't get a response but sat down anyways, "My names Matt. What's your name?"

The boy lifted his head up from the desk and looked at him, a small frown forming on his lips as if he was angry, "Not its not," He whispered angrily.

"Yes it is," Matt, repeated, "Here," He dug out his wallet, he didn't know why he was so adamant Matt wasn't his name but at least he was talking, that was good. "See," He pointed to his driver's license, "It says Matt Casey."

"I can read!"

"Okay." Matt put away his wallet, "So what's your name?"

The boy stared at him for a minunte as if he was decided if he should answer, finally he did, "My names Mattie. My Daddy's name was Matt."

Now it made sense, the boy must have thought he was tricking him into talking. "Well," Matt lowered his voice "I'll tell you a secret, only the bravest men are named Matt."

By this time multiple photographers ahd turned there attention to Matt and Mattie but neither one noticed, "My Daddy was very brave. But he died. I want to be brave too." Mattie began to get angry again

"Well sometimes the bravest thing to do is let other people help you. It's hard to admit you need help isn't it?"

"I don't want him dead!" Mattie broke down and cried and a woman Matt presumed to be his teacher rushed over to him.

Mattie hugged his teacher tightly and she gratefully whispered a thank you to Matt. Matt smiled and stood up. Now everyone attention was on him and one look at Gabby told him that she was not happy at all.

* * *

For the rest of the afternoon Gabby barely spoke to Matt. He knew she was furious at him for what happened at the Elementary School, but when he asked why she simply said they'd talk about it later. After lunch he was quite happy to go on a tour of one of the bases' firehouses well she went to meet with people and tour more buildings.

Two of Gabby's Secret Service Guards accompanied him to the firehouse despite him insisting they stay with her. She was in more danger then he was at any given moment and he'd hate to have anything happen to her because two of her secret service agents were with him.

"Oh wow!" Matt stepped out of the SUV and looked up at the firehouse. It was fairly new and open, and most of it was wall to ceiling windows, which provided much needed light.

"You must be Matt Casey. I'm William Holden, the Chief here," A greying haired man walked up to Matt and shook his hand, "I hear you're a fire fighter back in Chicago."

"Yeah. At a busy station," He nodded, "I have a lot of questions for you about what its like to work on a Marine Base. I hope that's okay."

"Oh yeah of course it is son," He nodded his head, "We teach lots of people who are less experienced then yourself. Come on it and eat the rest of the men. We have three Fire Company's serving here. A Squad Company, a Ladder Company and a Truck company with five fire fighters on each and we have three shifts." He explained as they walked into the firehouse, "I heard you're a Truck Lieutenant in Chicago so I figured you'd like to meet our Truck Company." He led him into the garage and then into a hallway and to a conference room. Four men, varying in age and one young woman were sitting in desks.

"Matt Casey?" A man a few years older then himself asked, "I'm Mike Anderson, Lieutenant," He made his way over to shake Matt's hand, "This is Holden, Suarez, Eagle and our candidate Harper."

"Hi," Matt smiled, "So what kind of calls do you guys get here?" He wondered."

"We mostly do sessions with children and adults on fire safety and we oversee a lot of the training exercise's that may require us." Anderson explained, "There are two other firehouses on the base, one works mostly with the FBI for their cases and the other trains officers at the Officer candidate school. We take all of the bigger calls if there are any and we work a lot with the NCIS and Army CID."

"NCIS? CID?"

"Oh sorry," Andersen chuckled realizing he wouldn't; know the acronyms, "The NCIS is the police force for the Marines and Navy and the Army CID is the same only for the Army. When they have cases involving arson or suspected arson they usually call us to help."

"Oh," Matt nodded. It was clear they didn't get a lot of big calls like Firehouse fifty-one did in Chicago but like his firehouse family these guys all seemed very nice. "Can I see the trucks and some of the equipment?" He wondered.

"Sure, Holden, Eagle why don; you show Matt around," The Lieutenant suggested to the two youngest men. They both nodded and led Matt out of the conference room,

"We just got some new equipment," Eagle explained, "Pretty high tech. Squad has lots of it too," He explained as they walked into the equipment closet. Right away Matt saw what they were referring to. Some of the equipment was brand new, "This is great. We've been trying to get lots of these in Chicago," He explained, "I guess the military serves you guys well."

"Actually," Holden spoke up, "We were behind for years and very low funded, President Dawson's first wave of government grants really helped us out a lot." They all knew who Matt was, or rather who his girlfriend was.

"That's great," Matt was so impressed to see that the funding was being put to good use. He wished there were photographers here now to take pictures, he went to get his phone to send a text to Gabby but groaned when he remembered the Secret Service Agents ahd insisted on holding t for him.

"I'm going to go and see if I can take a picture of this," He told them, "My girlfriend's Secret Service Agents took my phone," He couldn't hep but groan a little, "They're outside, I'm going to go try and convince them to give it back to me."

"Hey," Eagle called out as he was leaving, "What's it like dating the First Daughter?" They were all waned by the chief and their Lieutenant to tow the line and not ask Matt any questions about Gabby Dawson. Eagle was never one to listen to directions much though.

"Thomas!" Holden groaned out and rolled his eyes, "Now were both going to get into trouble."

"No, no its alright," Matt assured them, they reminded him of candidates he'd supervised, "My men gave me lots of worse questions back in Chicago believe me. I don't mind telling you Gabby is fantastic and she and her family really want to do a lot of good thins for this country."

"Spoken like a true politician" Eagle pointed out.

"Yeah," Matt laughed.

* * *

At nine o'clock after a full day at Quantico Matt and Gabby walked back into the hotel room. Matt shutting the door and locking it and getting ready for the fight they both knew was coming.

"Matt," Gabby shook her head angrily as she threw down her purse on the couch and sighed, "I know you hate standing around and not doing anything and on some levels you have this hero-complex, but you need to let me talk, let me take the spot light!"

"I wasn't trying to get the photographers away from you! I was trying to help out that little boy and I did. Isn't that what this whole trip was about to convince Congress to grant more funding for the military services?" He questioned.

"Yes, but you helping one boy is not going to help the thousands of other children that need help! What I was doing was getting it across that smart boards are essential to helping children learn in the 21st century. Now all the papers are going to report is that you helped that little boy, which is great Matt but that's not what the American people need to see."

"You hate having your picture taken anyways!" He pointed out, "So shouldn't you be happy that its not in newspapers?" He asked, "And besides I know that picture I sent you of the fire equipment won't be in the paper, you don't see me complaining," He knew it was a cheap shot but he needed to make his point.

"I posted that picture on Twitter on the car ride home," She told him, "I think that's great, it shows that the funding is actually going to good use. But even though the Quantico Elementary school is modern so many others on other bases aren't. Children from military families are having to go to schools within communities, and those schools aren't equipped to handle the problems those children face."

"One picture not being in few papers isn't going to change that!" Matt ran his hands over his face, "And please tell your Secret Service Guards to not take my phone away. It took me a few minutes to try and convince them to give it back to me. When I said I wanted to take a picture they had to call D.C. to make sure it was okay!

"Don't start that!" Gabby warned, "You knew what you were getting into when we started dating, I warned you it would be tough but you're the one that convinced me and now-"

"What? You want to break up?" He yelled shaking his head.

"Well you're clearly not happy that the Secret Service Agents are doing their jobs. Believe it or not but you're in some danger as well, even on a secure military base."

"I don't believe that. But I do think that you want to break up with me." He looked at her hoping that he was wrong. He went to walk towards her, managing to touch her arm before she flinched away.

"No I don't think we need to break up but we do need to talk about some things I think."

"You need to tell me more about your past relationship. You're still afraid and affected by that, we're ever going to get anywhere if you don't fully trust me!"

"What?" She exclaimed, "This has nothing to do with me not trusting you! And how dare you tell me I'm not over my ex boyfriend. You're angry because things are different for you and I understand that. That's what we need to talk about."

"You didn't trust me when I said we shouldn't break up and sometimes you still flinch when I touch you," He pointed out, "What have I done to make you not trust me Gabby?"

Angry tears darting down her face Gabby shook her head angrily at him, "Get out!" She yelled, pointing to the door, "Get your bags and go back to Chicago. We'll talk when I get back in a few days."

"Gabby-"

"Go!"

Matt wanted to argue more, but didn't want her Secret Service Agents to get involved as that wild only make matters worse. He went their their bedroom and got is bags and left.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** *runs and hides* please don't be to mad at me.


	17. Trust

**A\N:** Wow! I'm so sorry for the delay in updating. I've been swamped with real life and getting more hours with work. Plus I did have some trouble writing this chapter and making it as best as it can be. Thank you so much to all of my friends on Twitter for all of their help.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

Picking up the t-shirt Gabby had to smile, it was one of his that she'd taken ownership off and often slept in it. She figured since they weren't' together anymore he'd want it back. The problem was she didn't want to give it back, and she certainly didn't want them to be over.

There argument had been a real turning point for her. She had realized that she wasn't over all that Alex had done to her, and she had a lot of trust issues because of it. However it also confirmed to her that Matt didn't understand politics and the press, not that she expected him. She should have further explained things to him before Quantico

They hadn't spoken for a week, not since he left from the hotel in D.C. When she'd gotten back she'd been thrown deep into work that she hadn't had time to think about it. This was her first day off since she'd gotten back and now after finding Matt's t-shirt she was wondering what he was doing.

Gabby put the t-shirt aside and was about to load more laundry into the washer when her cell phone rang, she swiped it saw it was Laura and answered it, "Hey. You ready to take me up on that offer to help out?" She asked her sister in-law. There was an Illinois political conference in Chicago for the week and so Antonio and Stella were in town, leaving Laura to look after five kids alone.

"My father…" Laura took a deep breath and then continued, "He had a stroke. They took him to the hospital but they don; think he'll make it. Can you come and watch the kids?" She asked now fully crying.

"Of course!" Gabby answered without hesitation, "I'll be there as soon as I can!" She began gathering up her things as quickly as she could, "I don't think you should drive to the hospital. Why don't you have one of my secret service gaurs give you a ride? Have you talked to Antonio?" She asked. Her brother was busy but she knew he'd run to his wife in a heartbeat if he knew.

"I tried calling him but it went to voicemail. I left a message an then called his chief of staff and explained it was urgent Antonio call me," Laura rubbed her cheeks with her hands, "I'll tell the kids so you don't have to worry about the questions."

"Only tell them if you want to. I can dodge questions all day long. You just look after yourself. Do you want me to call Antonio? Is there anything I can do?" She asked getting in the car.

"No, just come and watch the kids," Laura answered. What she really wanted was her husband to lean on and support her but she couldn't have that.

Twenty minutes later Gabby arrived at her brother and sister in-law's house. Santiago was crying in his mother's arms when Laura opened the door. Gabby took him and gave Laura a quick hug.

"I told the kids. Eva locked herself in her room, Diego's downstairs and Daniela is really upset," Laura explained quickly, "And Maddie's in a bad mood too," She warned.

Locking the door after Laura left Gabby carried Santiago into the family room where Daniela sat crying, "Hi sweetheart," She sat down beside her niece. "Come here," She lifted the three year old up and placed her in her lap, "It's okay to be sad."

"Mommy saided Grandpa was really sick!" Daniela cried, "That he might die. But I don't want that."

"I know," Gabby kissed her hair. She sat with her until she calmed down and then put her favourite show on TV. Putting Santiago in his playpen she went down into the basement where Diego was punching the punching bag that hung off the wall.

"You have a pretty good swing," Gabby wasn't surprised Antonio had been giving Diego boxing lessons since before he could walk. "You want to talk?"

"No!" Diego shook his head, "Just go away!"

Before Gabby could say more she heard yelling coming from upstairs and jolted up the stairs to find Eva and Maddie arguing.

"Tia Gabby!" Eva looked at her aunt, "Angry sobs coming down her face, "Maddie told all our friends… well she told them something!" She didn't want to tell her aunt what was said.

"It's true you little tomboy!" Maddie laughed.

"Hey!" Gabby looked at Maddie, "That's enough! Now go upstairs! You know Eva's having a hard time right now. I thought you were her best friend."

"I changed my mind," She shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal and turned on her heal and left.

Gabby pulled Eva into a hug and shook her head at how outright mean Maddie could be. If Stella knew how mean she was she'd surely do something about it, but as much as she wanted to be she was never around. Maddie was a handful for her nannies and over the years she'd had several different ones. She hardly had a solid relationship with anyone.

"Can we talk?" Eva asked, she was embarrassed but she didn't have the energy to keep this in, "In the kitchen," She indicated she didn't want her younger sister to hear the conversation.

"Of course," Gabby nodded and walked into the kitchen wit her niece, she already had an idea of where this conversation was going but let Eva get up the courage to talk to her.

"Maddie she… she started well you know…" Gabby nodded her head, it made sense now that Maddie was unusually difficult, even for her standards, "And all my other friends have started too and they've developed. My says its normal for all girls to go through things differently but its not fair. And now Grandpa is dying."

"Your mother is right," Gabby hugged her, "I was fourteen. I'll get out some old pictures later and show you. I'm sure your parents have some. And I know you're really sad about your grandfather. But just remember all of the good times," Gabby tried to sound as supportive as she could, "I'm going to go and talk to Maddie right now, can you go and put on a Disney movie for Daniela?"

"Alright," Eva nodded her head and left to go and help her younger sister

Gabby walked into Eva's bedroom and frowned as she saw Maddie crying, "What's wrong sweetheart?" She wanted to know.

"Go away!" Maddie yelled, "You don't care! Nobody cares!"

"That's not true," Gabby shook her head, "Laura told me what's going on," She figured it was better for Maddie to be angry at Laura then her best friend, "And believe me I understand."

"It's not fair! Eva gets to argue with Laura all the time! And all of my other friends have mothers too! I want Mom to be around even if I can yell at her, but I just want… I want to talk to her," Maddie admitted with a shake of her head, "Why is she so busy all of the time?"

"Your mother loves you Maddie. And she' doing everything she can for you," Gabby knew how hard Stella worked but sometimes she found her cousin a little selfish. As she was dong what she wanted to do, she was leaving her daughter without a mother. "And I know she cares. Remember she asked if you wanted to go to the Charity Event? You said no. Do you want to go?"

Maddie nodded her head. Her mother had never invited her to go to any event before and she had been thrilled when she'd been invited. However she angrily replied she didn't want anything to do with her mother's career.

"Then I'll take you dress shopping tomorrow. I know Eva was going to go too but I don't think… I know you're going through a had time right now but Eva needs her best friend."

"I don't know what to say," Maddie admitted. "What do you say?"

"You don't need to say anything. Just listen and be her best friend. I know you can do that. Why don't we go back downstairs? You watch the movie with Eva and Daniela and I'll go and make some lunch."

"Okay," Maddie agreed

Halfway through making sandwiches for lunch Gabby was happy to see Diego come out of the basement and join in and watch the end of the movie. The kids put on another one and Gabby went to get Santiago to feed him before the older kids.

"Tia Gabby!" Eva called, "Your phone's ringing! It's Matt!"

"You can answer it Eva," Gabby responded as she tried to feed an uncooperative Santiago.

"Hi Matt," Eva said into the phone as she stood up and waked into the kitchen.

"Hi Eva," Matt wondered why the teen was answering Gaby's phone then figured Gabby was spending the day with Laura, "Is your Aunt there?"

"She's feeding Santiago," Eva responded, "Want me to put you on speaker phone?"

"No, no that's okay, is your mother there?" He wondered. He wanted to know if he was still invited to the Charity Dinner and figured Laura would be able to answer him.

"My grandfather had a stroke," Eva's brown eyes filled with tears, "So Mom went to the hospital. Tia Gabby is looking after us."

"Oh. I'm so sorry sweetheart. Tell Tia Gabby I'll call her back in half an hour or so," He hung up the phone and stood up from his desk.

"Alright," Gabby looked at the older kids as she loaded Santiago into his stroller. "You guys have to be good here," She looked especially at Maddie, as she knew she was the one who really hadn't wanted to go.

"I will!" Maddie defended herself angrily.

While the kids were eating lunch Matt had called Gabby back and told her he'd made arrangements for her to bring the kids to Firehouse Fifty-One for a visit. When she'd said no he explained it was a slow day and his chief had okayed it. Plus he thought the kids would have fun helping them wash the fire truck.

Matt asked if they would be able to talk things out and Gabby had said that they could. What she didn't say was that she wasn't sure if they could.

"Matt!" Diego saw the Truck Lieutenant and took off running for him, Daniela following suit.

"Hi!" Matt picked them up and hugged them giving them each a kiss, "You two want to help us clean my fire truck?" He asked smiling as both young children eagerly nodded their heads. "Come with me then, but lets wait for everyone else." He said and waited for Gabby and Eva and Maddie. "You girls want to help out too?" He asked the twelve year olds.

"Not even a little bit," Maddie responded her voice full of sassiness', "That's work. It's not fun! You're trying to get us to do unpaid child labour!"

"Madeline!" Gabby stared at her, "You know that's not true. You need to stop reading law books you don't understand."

"Matt lets wash the truck now!" Diego said impatiently.

"Alright we'll do the tour later, I'll just go and get my guys," Matt laughed he should have figured Diego would want to wash the truck first.

"I'll come too!" Daniela ran along with him.

"Okay sweetie," Matt picked her up and followed Diego into the firehouse.

"Well this is so much fan so fair!" Maddie rolled her eyes at Gabby, "Can I please go and do anything else!"

"Can I do something?" Eva looked at her Aunt, "Or can I just go and be alone?"

Gabby tried to hold in her sigh, Maddie and Eva hadn't wanted to come, but even with security guards watching them she didn't want to leave them alone in the house. She hoped they'd find something they liked but it was looking like it would be a long afternoon.

"Hey girl!" Leslie Shay appeared on the apparatus floor, "I heard you were here!" She came over and hugged her friend, "This is my partner Sylvie Brett. Brett this is Casey's girlfriend, and these are her other nieces and-"

"I'm her cousin," Maddie interrupted with a sneer. She looked around at the garage and tried not to be to impressed. She'd never been to a fire station before and it looked kind of cool. She didn't want to look like a geek though, or a baby. When she acted entitled she got yelled at a lot, but at least it was attention.

"Madeline! Gabby raised her voice, "You don't talk back to adults!" She looked embarrassed. She hated people thinking that she, or her family couldn't look after the children. Maddie was the worst behaved child in the family by far. That unfortunately did have a little to do with her father. In Gabby's opinion though it has more to do with Stella being away so much, and not telling Maddie the truth. Stella was a good mother but to make up for her rebel teenage years she was an over achiever now. She didn't see Maddie for days in arrow at times. And when Stella was with her she was often giving her grieve for all the trouble she caused. Stella's parents who could have helped a lot were always buying her presents in an effort to buy her affection.

"Whatever," Maddie rolled her eyes. Turning to look at Shay and Brett she scoffed, "What are you to real life Barbie's?"

"Madeline! Go!" Gabby took her arm and led her away.

"She's usually really cool," Eva looked up at the adults. She was used to people thinking Maddie was mad. She knew even her parents often though negative things about her. "Can I hang out with you two?" She walked up to Shay and Brett, "I need to be distracted." She looked at the ambulance and then to the garage around her. She didn't know what there was to do at a fire station, however she wasn't opposed to doing manual work. "Or I can talk to Matt- I mean Lieutenant Casey and see if I can sweep or clean." She had been taught that in professional settings you always refer to adults correctly, especially if they had a rank.

"You can help us do innovatory," Shay looked at the young teenager. Matt hadn't been too specific on the details as to why the children were here. Although it was clear it wasn't good. "What do you usually do at home when you're stressed?"

"I sometimes bake with my Mom. She doesn't like me baking on my own yet but I can do most of the work on my own," She announced proudly. "I'm teaching Daniela how to bake but she's more interested in playing school with her stuffed animals. Daniela's only three."

"How old are you?" Brett asked as Maddie climbed up into the ambulance beside them.

"I'm thirteen. Diego's eight and Santiago is six months old," Eva informed them. "So what do you need me to do?"

"You can make sure we have everything on this list. Put check mark in the box if we have it and an X if we don't. The brackets around some items tell you how many of each item we're supposed to have."

"Okay," Eva nodded her head. She looked up at Brett and Shay and wondered how much they knew about her. She was never allowed to ask if people knee who she was but she was always curious. She supposed in this case since they knew who Gabby was they'd know, "My Grandfather had a stroke. Not the President but my mother's father. He was a retired banker, nothing political but… My Mom said it doesn't look like he's going to make it." She let out a few sobs, "I wanted to go with her but she said no. Dad's in conferences and he's not going to be able to get there. I just want to be able to say goodbye."

Shay and Brett exchanged looks, neither quite sure what to say. Eva appeared smart and wouldn't appreciate being told everything was going to be fine. However at the same tine it wasn't there place to say much else.

"I'm sure the doctor's and nurses are doing all they can for him. Hospitals aren't very nice places. Your mother probably doesn't want you to see people that are so sick." Shay tried to explain, "I'm sure you'd been a great help to your Aunt Gabby."

Eva nodded her head and sighed, "I have to help out with my younger sister and brothers. I like it most of the time. Maddie hates it though, and she's my best friend."

The doors to the firehouse opened and Diego and Daniela ran out, each were wearing a firehouse fifty-one t-shirt over-top of their bathing suits. They both had buckets and sponges as well.

"Hey Lieutenant," Hermann walked up to Matt who was holding Santiago, the six month old smiling happily as he looked around at all the new surroundings. "Why don't you let us take the kids? We can get started on washing the fire trucks. It'll give you and Gabby a chance to talk."

Matt looked at Daniela and Diego who were standing on either side of him. He knew Hermann was a parent and completely trustworthy but these weren't his kids. Looking outside he saw the black SUV's and figured if there was a problem Antonio's security team would tell them.

"Sure."

"Casey man, what's with the security? Are we going to have to be cleared or something?" Andy Darden asked his best friend as he tilted his head to the SUV's.

"They're not Secret Service," Matt informed them, "Antonio's kids don't qualify for that," Matt explained. "Antonio hires his own security guards from a firm out of D.C. They knew we were coming here. And Gabby doesn't have her Secret Service guards here. When she's looking after Antonio's kids she thinks it's pointless to have two details. She'd rather the kids be safe, but they know to look out for her too." Matt answered what he knew the next question would be.

"Maddie's mother, isn't she a Senator too?" Cruz piped up, "She doesn't have a security detail?"

"Her mother uses the same company as Antonio. They have the same deal as Gabby's Secret Service agents though."

"Alright enough talking lets get these kids outside," Hermann reached to take Santiago from Matt, "Can this little guy get wet?"

"Sure," Matt nodded, "His diaper bag is in his stroller. He has extra clothes and diapers and everything in it." Matt gave the infant a kiss on the forehead. In response Santiago gurgled and grinned happily.

"Try to keep the politics to a minimum, they get enough of that. Just let them be normal kids for once," Matt advised his men. "Don't be intimated by the black SUV's, the security agents are nice guys.

"Yeah they're nice and Eva says they're cute!" Daniela said loud enough for her older sister to hear.

"Daniela!" Eva exclaimed mortified, "You don't say things like that." She turned and walked back to the entrance of the firehouse "I'm going to go and be with Shay and Brett," She walked through the double doors.

Gabby was sitting at Matt's desk when he came down the hallway. Her cell phone was in front of it and she just kept unlocking it. Clearly she was waiting for something. As he got closer to his office he saw that she was crying, "Bad news?" He asked walking into the office.

Gabby looked up at him, a bit startled; "Sorry I'm in your office I-" She didn't want

"It's alright," He closed the door and then the blinds. Sitting on the edge of his bed he waited for her to continue.

"Laura called. Her father didn't make it. She's been trying to get a hold of Antonio but he's been in meetings since six o'clock this morning. His Chief of Staff is being a real jerk and…" She ran a hand through her hair, "I just know this isn't going o help tings between them, it's already bad enough. If Antonio's not there for her…."

"I'm sure he'll get there," Matt didn't know Antonio very well but he loved his family. He hoped that he'd skip the rest of the meetings to be with his wife, however politics was a tricky field and one missed meeting could spell the end of your career.

"I hope so," Gabby turned to look at him. She knew they needed to talk about what had happened in D.C she just wasn't sure what to say. She didn't' want to break up with him, but there were things both of them needed to work on. He had been right when he accused her of not fully trusting him. She wanted to and knew she could but for some reason she just couldn't.

"So what are we?" Matt broke the awkward silence and asked, "I don't want to break up with you Gabby," He added quickly, "And I know your last boyfriend hurt you. I'll wait for you but I just want you to talk to someone."

"I can't do that," Gabby shook her head. She was too ashamed about what happened to let anyone know about it. One money exchange and it would be all over the Internet. "But I know I need to work on something's and I'll work on them I will. I should have prepared you better for everything at Quantico and that's my fault."

Matt nodded his head, "I know what your father is trying to do is going to help a lot of people. That's great and I support that I do. But seeing that little boy knowing that he was suffering…I've seen that look before and I knew he needed help right away. I wasn't thinking about the press."

"That's the problem Matt," Gabby began, "You always have to be aware of the press. If we're going to make this work- and I want it to you need to start to think things through. And I need to start trusting you more."

"I want this to work Gabby," Matt told her seriously. "I love you and I had a good time with your family. But I honestly don't think I need to trust you more. You admitted you may not trust me but I'm not sure you trust me at all. I know you're not telling me everything that happened with Alex. I don't think you've told the full truth to anyone. That kind of suffering can be horrible and painful, especially if you deal with it on your own.

"Matt," Gabby warned as she began to get angry, "I told you everything that… everything that I want to remember," Her cheeks began to get wet as she cried. "What happened isn't important. I can't talk to anyone about what happened. I can't tell Laura or Stella because they have to many problems already. And if I se someone it'll cause a frenzy. Don't you get it what I do isn't anonymous? "

"Gabby your mental health is much more important then anything else," Matt walked closer to her.

"My father and brother love their jobs. I don't want to do anything that'll hurt that. If I go see someone then what happened will all come out. It was awful Matt. I can't- I won't go through that again. She turned and walked out of his office. Walking through the hallway she stopped and got herself under control. She couldn't let the kids see her like this. She counted to ten and then went outside. Diego and Daniela were both smiling and laughing as they played. She walked over to Diego's backpack to get out his sunscreen. "Diego, lets get some more sunscreen on you." She looked over at her nephew who was washing the fire truck with a wet sponge.

"Tia Gabby!" Diego whined, "I don't need anymore sunscreen."

"Yes you do."

"You heard your aunt bud," Hermann lifted Diego off the truck and onto the ground. "Go and do what she says and then you can come back."

"Alright," Diego wanted to continue to help out. He went over to his aunt.

Matt walked outside and tried not o make eye co tact with Gabby. He wanted to talk to her again but knew that would only make her more upset. He needed to explain what he knew to her father. She would ne mad at him and they'd most likely break up; but at least she'd be able to get some treatment. That to him was more important then anything else.

"Hey Daniela," Andy Darden walked out of the garage and knelt down next to the little girl, "You want to help me get Matt wet?"

"Yes!" Daniela nodded happily. She dropped the toys she was playing with and followed Darden.

"Alright," Darden put a hose in an empty water jug, "You watch this fill up with water. I'm going to go and get some ice."

"Lot's of ice!" Daniela smiled.

"All right lots of ice," Andy left and returned a few minutes later with a tray of ice cubes. He dumped it in the jug, "You help me carry this alright. We're going to surprise Matt."

Daniela nodded and walked with Kelly over to where Matt was now helping to wash the truck.

"Matt!" Daniela got his attention and then she and Darden threw the water on him.

Now soaked Matt looked at his best friend, "Thanks Andy," He glared good-naturedly at him, "And using Daniela too really smart," He laughed as he picked up Daniela getting her even more wet. The three-year-old laughing, "Alright go se Tia Gabby." He put Daniela on the ground seeing Gabby staring at him. Daniela went running off to Gabby happily.

"All right Andy you do know I', going to get you back," Matt warmed his friend. Andy was just about to respond when the call bells went off and the firefighters sprung into action. Gabby called Diego back to her and he did as he was told. Both fire trucks and the ambulance went speeding down the driveway.

"Alright, lets go inside get dried up and changed. You two can play and watch TV while I make something for dinner. I think it would be nice to have something waiting for them when they get back. Gabby was mad at Matt but she still loved him very much. A part of he knew he was right; she needed to get some help. But she just couldn't face that yet. In the meantime she planned on distracting herself by cooking and baking.

Four hours later when everyone returned Gabby was watching TV with the kids. The tuna casserole she cooked being kept warm in the oven.

"I told you guys something smelled good," Mouch said as everyone gathered in the common room.

"Tia Gabby and Maddie maded dinner," Daniela told them all as she looked up from her doll. "And cupcakes." She added smiling, "I put on all the sprinkles."

"Lieutenant can she come over here all the time?" Otis joked. "We never get to eat this good."

"I don't think so Otis," Matt sat down at the table. "I think Gabby's pretty busy."

"Yeah," Gabby nodded. She thought that she'd be able to handle seeing him but she was wrong, "Eat up, and then go and get your things kids. We're going to head out."

"Did you two like have a fight or something?" Maddie looked between Gabby and Matt. She was saying out loud what all of the fire fighters were thinking. "Because I don't think my Gran Tio or my Tio Antonio would like that," She glared at Matt. "Maybe I should call them."

"Madelyn!" Gabby usually had more patience for the girl but she'd reached her limit. "You know you don't talk to adults like that. I told you the next time you were disrespectful I'd take your phone. Hand it over."

"No way! You should be thanking me! Instead you're taking his side?" She scoffed as she backed out of the room.

"Give your cousin your cell phone," Shay walked to the door and blocked the way. She knew that Matt and Gabby must have had a serious fight. She suspected the teenage wanted to help, just like she did. But causing more trouble wasn't the way to do it. Plus she knew the teenager was a handful and Gabby had been dealing with her all day, "Or if you'd prefer I can take you down to the police station. Talk to you about how lucky you are."

"Go to hell!" Maddie glared at her. She hated it when people pointed out to her how lucky she was. She'd trade all of the material things she had for more time with her mother.

Kelly who had stayed quiet long enough had finally snapped, "Hey!" He stood up and yelled causing Maddie to turn and face him, "I don't know if anyone ever taught you any manners but you don't say that to adults."

"It's a free country!"

"Yes it is," Kelly nodded his head, "So that means that I can tell you I think you're a spoiled brat." He wouldn't normally say something like that but he wanted to prove a point. He knew Matt well enough to know that something wasn't right. He and Gabby must have had a falling out. He knew Matt and Gabby needed to work it out; the last ting that needed to happen was for Gabby's family to get involved.

"You don't know anything about me. You're only upset because I called your girlfriend a bitch."

"She's not my girlfriend, not that its any of your business," Severide informed her, "I just don't' like it when my friend are attacked." He pointed out, "I think you feel the same way. You want to protect your aunt.

Maddie looked at Kelly and, for the first time sensed as though he really understood what she was going through No adult had ever been able to relate to her before. She felt violated and angry. Knowing he seemed to like Shay she turned on attack mode she turned to Shay and smirked, "So you are gay. I thought you might be. But usually gay people don't-"

That was when Severide lost it. "You better not finish that sentence! Who told you that you could say all the things you say? And said it was okay for you to act like that. You're embarrassing Gabby and your cousins, who are by the way one hundred times better behave then you are. Whoever your parents are I'd hate me meet them. I bet they're just as stuck up as you are!"

"Excuse me," Everyone tuned around to see Stella and Antonio standing at the door, "Who gave you the right to talk to my daughter like that!" She accused angrily as she walked into the room. It didn't surprise her that the man yelling at her daughter was the one Gabby ahd told her about in the picture. If he had a bad tempter it was no wonder he didn't have a wife.

"She's your daughter?" Severide questioned. He looked at the woman and scolded himself for having any attraction to her. She obviously was a horrible mother and probably a bad person as well. Until he'd met Gabby he hadn't liked any politician because they were usually what Stella appeared to be. "Why don't you teach her some manners instead of spending all your time in Washington?" She's been rude and miserable today to everyone. And I'll have you know her cousins have been perfect. So that leads me to believe you're a bad mother."

"Kelly!" Matt could see this wasn't getting any better, "I'm sure Antonio needs to get the kids. Why don't you come and help me get their things from my office."

"Fine!" Kelly stormed out of the room following Matt,

Once they were out of earshot Matt stared at him, "That wasn't necessary at all! What you said was completely out of line! You don't have any idea what Stella goes through with Maddie."

Kelly was a bit surprised Matt was so much on her side. That meant something bad had happened. "No husband?" He asked without thinking.

"No," Matt shook his head as they walked into his office, "I shouldn't be telling you this but Maddie's father is a convicted killer. He's in federal prison and Maddie only just found out the truth about him. Stella's been raising her by herself all her life. She has problems with her parents. So remember that the next time she says something."

"That still doesn't excuse what she said," Severide pointed out. Although he could tell that Maddie and Stella's lives haven't been easy. A part of him wanted to help and find out more. Stella was an attractive woman but he told himself she was way to busy for a boyfriend. Plus there was that added factor that she probably hated him.

"Can you just go and talk to Maddie?" Matt unfolded Santiago's stroller and put the kids bags inside the basket, "Apologize to her and Stella?"

"Only if you tell me what happened with Gabby," Kelly tried to bargain.

Matt glared at him, "Man!" He shook his head, "Not now. I'm in enough trouble telling about about Stella and Maddie. Gabby and I are just having some problems right now."

Severide saw Gabby walk down the hallway and left.

Standing in the doorway Gabby couldn't meet Matt's eyes, "I'm going to head out now. The fundraiser dinner for that gym my father and Antonio own is tomorrow night. It'll look suspicious if I go without you. So can we just put off everything until tomorrow? You can meet me at the hotel. I'll text you the number. After tomorrow night I think we need to take a little break.

"Gabby-" Matt tried to talk to her but she had already left.

* * *

Laura had finally been able to track down Antonio. When he arrived at their house she ran up and hugged him. She was so relieved he'd come. Gabby knew though that they now had even more personal problems to deal with. After promising o come back tomorrow Gabby left. She was just at home making dinner when her cell phone rang. It was an unlisted number and against her better judgement she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello Gabriella."

"Alex," Gabby's heart rate jumped. She'd never forget the voice of her ex boyfriend.

"I think I have some pictures you'd like to see. Meet me at the coffee shop near your apartment in 20 minutes. And if I sense any guards I'll give these pictures to the paparazzi. Lets just say you're not fully clothes in them.

He had trapped her. It was her worst fear come true, "Oh…oh…okay."

"Good," He said and then hung up.

Gabby let the phone fall out f her hand as she slipped to the ground sobbing.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** So I was going to leave this with a cliff-hanger ending but after not updating for so long I figured I wouldn't. I hope you liked this chapter. Pleas leave a review.


	18. Truth

**A\N:** Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing this story. Each review gives me so much joy. After thinking about the characters and talking to friends on Twitter I decided to change a main storyline. I didn't have much brainstorming done for this chapter so I hope its not to poorly written. But I did want to make Gabby more in-character and I felt as though I did need to change it.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

Gabby had told her secret service guards that she was going out for coffee, and some alone time. They insisted on going along anyways but she told them she'd be fine. In her mind she knew that she needed to go to the police and tell them everything. Actually doing it though scared her, in a way Alex still had control over her and she hated that. Never in her life had she been so scared of anyone as she was of Alex when he was abusing her. She didn't want to give him that control back, and if she was able to get a copy of those pictures he had she be able to charge him with blackmail. Since the abuse happened so long ago she figured it might be harder to get those charges to stick.

Walking into the coffee house she immediately spotted Alex, she'd unfortunately never forget his face. He was sitting at a back table and upon seeing her gave her an arrogant smile.

"Alex," Gabby slid into the seat opposite him, "Can I see the pictures?" She knew starting off with that probably wasn't the best thing to do but she couldn't stay with him for long.

"You always were impatient," He chuckled as he reached into a bag and puled out a folder, "I have more copies of those so if you go to the police or the FBI or anything I'll release them.

Gabby wondered if he'd been stalking her as well, as he seemed so confident he'd know what she'd do. She had the fundraiser at night, which was going to be a loaded with security. He'd be stupid to try and get into the fundraiser without a ticket. Then in the morning she'd go to the police station before her overnight shift at the hospital.

"I have a charity event for Antonio tonight. If I don't go with Matt it'll look suspicious. We're having some problems so it won't be a complete shock to him that we broke up.

"Fine. I always said you needed someone that can control you." He gave her that smile again. That smile that made her way tot punch him. She'd never be able to forgive herself for being fooled by his charming act. He'd conned her and used her and abused her, physically, mentally and sexually. She couldn't wait until he was in jail.

Pursing her lips together, stopping herself from making a nasty comment she just stood up, "I need to go. I can't be away from my detail for to long. Besides I have to go and pick up my dress."

Alex reached out and gripped her arm tightly, "You don't get to leave until I say to do!" He sneered. He was about to say more when other customers took notice at the interaction. Releasing her hand he reluctantly let her go.

* * *

Walking towards a small café by his apartment Severide was shocked to see Stella Dawson getting out of a SUV. She was looking between her phone and an assistant and didn't see him walk up to her.

"Stella right?" He smiled; a little shocked to see her security guards glare at him. He took a few steps back and raised his hands to show he meant no harm, "I'm a friend of her cousins," He explained. "I work with Gabby Dawson's boyfriend."

"He's telling the truth," Stella backed up his story, "And its Senator Dawson."

Severide shrugged, "I like Stella better. So what're you doing in a restaurant? Shouldn't you be sending an intern to get you whatever you need?"

"I like my interns to be doing more productive things," She quipped as they entered the building, "I'm perfectly capable of getting my own food. I'm still waiting for an apology for yesterday." She looked over at him as they stood in line.

"I'm not apologizing. Your daughter is a little out of control; she was being rude to my friends. That's not something I tolerate, plus she was giving Gabby a very hard time all day."

Stella went to say something else when she realized no one ha ever been that hones to get about Maddie before. She looked at him again and shook her head for doing what she was about to do, "Antonio is having a fundraiser for the gym he and his father own tonight. He's not going because Laura's father died. If you want a chance to meet the President you can come with me."

"Geez, if insults and sarcasm are a way to a girls heart I would have done it years ago."

"I just want to see you humiliate yourself. Besides it'll be goo for Matt to have a friend there. You could learn a few lessons from Matt. He treats Gabby really well."

"Yeah Matt's a good guy."

"I'll text you the details later," She stepped out of line and whispered something to her assistant.

"Wait!" Kelly called out, "You don't have my number."

"I have ways of getting it," Stella smiled as she left the restaurant.

Kelly watched her leave and then realized what he ha just agreed to. The last awards ceremony he'd gone to had been bad enough by this was going to be even worse. He was going as Stella's date. He stepped out of line and dialled Matt's number.

"Hey man," Matt picked up on the second ring, "I'm almost finished up my lunch break."

Kelly felt horrible; he should have remembered that Matt was working on a construction job. "I just ran into Stella and she invited me to Antonio's benefit tonight." He decided to spit it out. "Did you know President Dawson is going?" He asked lowering his voice not wanting to draw attention to his conversation.

"She did what?" Matt was stunned. He didn't; think that Stella liked Kelly too much. "Are you going?"

"Yeah but she's only inventing me because she knows it'll be boring. You need to tell me everything."

"I haven't been to an event like this with Gabby yet. You just need to rent a tuxedo and remember if you embarrass Stella you're essentially embarrassing Gabby."

"I won't," Kelly, promised, "How are things between the two of you?"

"They could be better," He admitted, "I'm hoping that after tonight we'll be able to talk a little but and sort everything out."

"Yeah I hope you can too.

* * *

The hotel hall was beautifully decorated. There were fifty tables in the hall all with eight tables and waiters were walking around with champing and appetizers. Along the wall there was an auction of items from celebrities and sports stars.

Kelly let Stella lead the way into the ballroom, as he still wasn't sure what he was doing. Granted, she looked gorgeous in a midnight blue ball gown. Her hair tied up and out of her face. Kelly was sure he'd never seen any woman look more beautiful, still though he knew he and Stella had to be incompatible. She was clearly more interested in her work, and he'd never ne able to handle Maddie on a regular basics.

Rafael was talking to his wife and other people when he saw Stella walking towards him. He had never seen the man she was with. As far as he knew she was coming alone. He looked the man up and down and tried to figure out if he'd seen him before. His sister had never had a steady boyfriend let alone someone e to bring to events like this. He handed his wife his glass of champagne and walked over to Stella.

"Stell," He hugged and his sister and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Raf," Stella smiled, although she was a little surprised. Rafael was a Senator from New York and therefore didn't have anything to do with the gym. He didn't need to attend for political reasons, "Are you crashing the party?"

"Yeah," He chuckled. Then getting serious he turned to Kelly and said, "I'm Rafael. Stella's brother, I'm a Senator out of New York."

"Wait a second," Kelly laughed, "So there are three Senator Dawson's? How does that even work? Doesn't that make it confusing? Is that why you guys never get anything accomplished in Washington?"

"He's funny," Rafael, commented sarcastically, "Who is he?"

"I'm Matt's best friend," Kelly replied.

"Well you could take a few lessons from Matt then," Rafael told him, "I'll see you later Stella, I should go," He turned to leave.

Stella knew that inviting Kelly here was a mistake but she couldn't help but be intrigued on what was going to happen. She sometimes got board of all of the normal things happening at events like this and she wanted something that would surprise her. She had learnt that Kelly Severide was defiantly a surprise.

"Senator Dawson," An older woman approached her with a smile, "It's so wonderful to see you again." She reached out her hand for Stella to shake, "Our children love that new gym and the programs for the girls are a success."

"I'm so glad. Kelly this is Kristen O'Conner. She's the head of a downtown youth centre. I gave her some money last year to rebuild a gym and run some programs for underprivileged girls. The challenges facing girls in the inner city are much different then boys. Boys have so many programs but girls need some just for them as well." She explained.

Kristen shook her head with a laugh, "She did more then just give us a few dollars. She helped raise over a million dollars for our centre. We deal with some of the most underprivileged kids in the city and she helped give them a second chance at life. Especially those girls. To many of them end up alone and pregnant or prostitutes. We have programs for them to work on their homework and learn valuable skills. Or places where they can just be kids."

"That's great," Kelly smiled as he looked at Stella. He never would have guessed that she'd do something like that. But, he realised he didn't know much about her at all.

After talking to Stella for a few moments someone else came to talk to her and then another before he knew it Kelly had been there for half an hour, although he wasn't complaining. The more he leant about Stella the more respect he ahd for her. She was on the board of a lot of charity's and a leader for woman's rights and education. She believed that every girl should have all the possibilities in the world opened to them. She wanted to see more girls go into medicine, science and trades and be able to have more jobs in the future. Getting girls introduced to coding was key and she was helping fund research for toys and games aimed at younger girls as well.

Once she had a few seconds alone Kelly looked at her. Suddenly he wasn't sure what to say, "You want a drink? Or something to eat?"

'I can get myself something," Stella walked over to the table where there was food laid out, "I don't need you to get me anything."

"Okay," Kelly wasn't sure what to do, He'd never met a woman who didn't fall head over heals for him. The more Stella did things for herself the more he wanted to do thing for her. "So what I'm I doing here then? I think-" He wasn't sure what to say.

"You're interesting," Stella told him as she kissed his cheek, "Gabby and Matt are over here," She walked to a table where Gabby and Matt were sitting. It was almost time for dinner and so everyone was getting seated.

* * *

Gabby had been up for a lot of the night worried about telling Matt everything that had happened to her. He knew most of it, but mot the extent of everything and the degree of a lot of the abuse. She was pacing the length of her condo, the same thing she'd bee doing for four hours when Matt walked in.

"Babe," He stopped her in her tracks and rubbed her cheek with his hand, "Please talk to me."

Gabby took a deep breath and stepped into his embrace. She loved how he understood her and got her so much. Their relationship would never be easy but she knew he was the one she wanted to wake up next to every day.

"Alex came back, he found me…." She tried to hold in the tears. "And I can't go back to him. I can't believe I ever trusted him in the first place. I'm going to go to the police but first I need to tell you everything. He hit me and he used-used to take advantage of me sexually. I know you'd never do anything like that. But what happened really made it harder for me to trust. And as much as I trust you its still hard, I know that doesn't really make any sense but that's how I feel."

Matt kissed her and held her close. H hoped he never saw Alex because if he did he may just beat him up. He could never imagine hurting anyone like that, or even thinking of it. It was such a cowardly and awful thing to do.

"Are you going to the FBI? Or the Chicago Police," He wondered. He wasn't sure how he'd go about handling it. Usually domestic abuse was a CPD jurisdiction but because of who Gabby was the FBI might want the case, "If you're going to the CPD I know a few Detectives from Molly's I could go with you."

"Thanks," Gabby whipped her eyes, "Antonio started out at the CPD. He was a patrolman at 21st for a while."

"Then I think I know who you should talk to," Matt told her. He began walking and then stopped. He wasn't sure if Gabby wanted him to go with her or not.

"You can come," Gabby looked at him, "I might need the support." She wanted to be strong, knew she should be but this was all becoming so real and she might break down. She'd rather do that with Matt by her side then anyone else.

"Alright then," Matt kissed her on the lips, "I know you're Secret Service detail will protect you from Alex but I promise you. I won't let anything happen to you either."

"I know." Gabby took a deep breath and opened the door to her condo.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** So, who is Gabby going to go and talk to?


	19. Downward Spiral

**A\N:** Thank you so much for all of the reads and reviews this story has been getting. This chapter is pretty important so I tried really hard to get everything right. I really hope you all like it.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

Taking a long drink of water Gabby ran a hand over her face as sweat poured off her. She'd just gotten through an hour session with Voight, explaining to him, in detail everything Alex had done to her. It hadn't been easy, especially having to re-live some of the things her mind her tried hard to forget. She now had to write her statement down.

Looking at Matt who was sitting next to her Gabby weakly smiled. He'd cancelled a construction job so he could come and do this with her. At first she said she'd be fine. Now though, she was very glad he was there. She reached for his hand as she tried to forum what she had said into words. After making lots of mistakes and crossing things out she managed to complete it in half an hour. Just as she was standing up two FBI agents walked into the room.

"Ms. Dawson," one of the FBI agents spoke up, "We need to talk to you,"

"Alright," Gabby nodded her head. She wasn't at all surprised the FBI was here to talk to her. Even though she went to the Chicago Police Department she figured they'd inform he FBI. Just to stay ahead of themselves and not get involved in turf wars, "If this is about informing my father I was going to call him after I finished here.'

"No, this isn't about the President ma'am," The second agent took a seat and took a deep breath. He looked around the break room and tried to compose his thoughts. This wasn't going to something that was easy to say. "When the CPD put Alexander Forta's prints into the system we were alerted. It appears as though Mr. Forta's fingerprints are a match to a serial killer we've yet to catch."

Gabby's heart dropped into her stomach, "Did I hear that? Serial…. Killer?" Her mouth became dry and she reached for her glass of water and finished it off. "Do you mean Alex is a serial killer?"

"It appears so Ma'am. He may have killed fifteen woman over the course the year. We've been investigating it but haven't been able to nail done any suspects yet. His fingerprints were on every body and key pieces of evidence."

"So was he going to kill me?" Gabby shook her head as she began to cry. All of this was too real. She could have been killed; she'd been in a relationship with a suspected serial killer.

The FBI Agents looked at one another and then to Gabby. This was going to be the hardest thing to digest but they needed to tell her. She needed to know what was going on so she could help in anyway she could. One agent pulled out pictures from a folder, "Now these may be hard to look at," He warned as he flipped them over and Gabby gasped. All fifteen of the women were young Hispanic's that looked like she did.

"Our profiler's believed that the serial killer was trying to repeatedly kill someone over and over again. We now believe that was you. We need you to tell us the nature of your relationship with Alexander Forta.

Gabby's knuckles turned white and she could feel the room start to spin. Standing up she opened up the door and went running out of the room. She barely made it to the stairs of the unit before she heaved over and threw up. She'd never felt so sick in her life. All of those women were dead because of her. If she had just gone to the police earlier they'd all still be alive.

"Gabby," Matt placed a gentle hand on her back trying not to startle her. He took her hand and led her away from the puddle on the ground.

"Sit down," Detective Erin Lindsay offered Gabby a chair and a warm face cloth.

"Th…ank you," Gabby managed to get out.

Erin nodded and went to talk to her colleagues about getting the floor cleaned up. They all knew who Gabby was but that didn't change any of their actions. Some of them had worked with out knew her brother when he was a Detective in the Intelligence unit. The family seemed very straight and didn't have any scandals. A rarity in politics.

"We don't have to do this now," Matt looked her straight in the eye. He understood why the FBI needed to talk to her but he had every mind to hit them for making her so upset. "Why don't you let me take you home."

"No," Gabby shook her head standing up on wobbly feet, "I need to o this and then call my father and Antonio," She gulped back a lump in her throat. She was not looking forward to either one of those conversations. Walking back into the room she sat back down and looked at the FBI agents, "Alex and I….we dated….why don't you ask the Detectives all of this?"

"We did. But we need to heat it from you."

"We dated last summer, it wasn't a good relationship he was abusive and manipulative. It took me awhile but once I saw how damaging he was I left. I didn't go to the police or my father because I was ashamed and scared."

"You didn't to anything wrong Ms. Dawson. This was all on him. We've charged him with fifteen counts of first-degree murder and hopefully he'll die in federal prison. You won't have to testify because you had nothing to do with the murders, however we can keep you informed if you wish. "

"No that's okay. Once the press funds out we used to date…It'll be high profile, Is he going to be tried in Chicago?

"The murders happened in a few different states so we're not sure yet. We do know our bosses have been informed so…"

"My father is my next call," Gabby cut them off knowing what they were going to say.

"Alright then. Thank you fir your help." The FBI agents left the room leaving Gabby and Matt alone.

Taking her cell phone out of her purse Gabby gripped it. This was going to be one of the hardest phone conversations she ever had in her life. She didn't know how her father would react and that scared her.

Placing a hand over Gabby's Matt offered, "I can call hi if you want?"

"No, no I need to do it. Then I'll call Antonio. Even though Laura's father's funeral is tomorrow. I know he'll want to know too.

* * *

"Wow!" Severide whispered out in a low tone, "I didn't know the President could cancel all of his meetings like that."

"He's the President of the United States. I think he can do whatever he wants," Matt let out a low chuckle as he took a sip of coffee. He and Severide were sitting with the door closed to his office.

After Gabby had called her father nearly in tears and confessed everything that had happened he'd rushed right to Chicago. He had promised to never let Alex anywhere near her again. And even though he was in federal jail he'd ordered her Secret Service team to follow her everywhere, and not jut wait in the SUV when she went into stores or other places. He could only stay a few hours but it was enough to calk her down and when he left she went to sleep.

Matt had barley left her side and was very worried about her on his first shift back at work. So he'd pulled a few strings and was able to get her to come to the firehouse for a few hours. Secret Service, who wasn't letting her drive at the moment, was only going to drop her off with one guard. That way it would minimise the distraction to the firehouse.

"I think you'll find this family values family above all else, not politics or power," Matt stood and opened the door to his office. He'd just received a text message from Gabby saying she was almost there.

Severide raised an eyebrow at his best friend, "Hoe would I possibly see that?"

"Because Stella invited you to the gala," Matt informed him, "And I have it on good authority she may like you. But we're not twelve year old school girls, so I don't ant to gossip."

Severide felt a little better knowing that Stella liked him and didn't only want to humiliate him. He found her to be very kind and funny, the more he hung around her at the gala the more he found himself being infatuated by her. She was the only woman to not fall into his arms when he flirted with them. She wasn't fazed by anything he did; all of this just made her more and more interesting. He knew though it would be dangerous to peruse her if she didn't feel the same way. Now that he knew she did he may just _accidently_ run into her somewhere.

"Hey Babe," Matt met Gabby on the driveway and kissed her on the lips. Although still uncomfortable he was getting used to kissing her around her Secret Service Agents. He was actually glad they were around; she kept saying she was fine but Matt knew she couldn't keep up the act for long. Sometime soon it would all become real to her and she would have a breakdown. If he couldn't be there with her he was glad somebody she knew and trusted would be.

"Hi," Gabby held onto Matt tightly. She hated the fuss her father was making over everything but she understood it. It had only been two days since she'd gone to the police station and she was still trying to process everything. Through everything that had happened Matt ahd been her saving grace and she'd never be able to thank him enough.

"Hi Gabby," Leslie Shay walked way from the ambulance and over to her, Sylvie Brett following her. "Don't know if you remember us but we're the two EMT's."

"Leslie and Sylvie," Gabby finished for them, "I'm really good with names," She added upon seeing their frustrated looks. She'd only met them once a few months ago so she could see why they'd be confused, "When you grow up in politics it's a skill you learn quickly, "She told them, "It's nice to see you again."

"If you ever get tired of hanging out with Matt or the guys just let us know," Leslie smiled, "We're just restocking the ambo now but we should be in the common room in about half an hour."

"I can always help if you want," Gabby offered. "Working helps keep my mind of things."

"Yeah sure," Sylvie nodded her head. At the briefing before the shift the house and been informed Gabby would be coming by. Matt told them something had happened but didn't say what. Surprisingly the White Horus ahd been able to keep the tory out of the papers but Matt knew they wouldn't be able to for long. He didn't want anyone to know that didn't have to.

Gabby turned to go with Brett and Shay when the call alarm went off. The address made her stop. She turned to Matt, "That's the hotel Antonio and Stella's meetings are at."

Matt gave Gabby a quick kiss on the lips, "I'm sure they'll be fine. It's probably just a kitchen fire."

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** It's not really a cliff-hanger ending so please don't be to mad at me.


	20. Making Plans

**A\N:** Wow! It's been so long since I've updated this story and I'm so sorry. This chapter is shorter then usual and I apologize.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

"FIRE DEPARTMENT CALL OUT!" Severide shouted as loud as he could as he and Squad three waded through the smoke filled hallways of the hotel.

There had been an electrical fire in the wiring that had caused the huge fire. Most of the top floors had been evacuated and cleared by Truck. However the conference rooms where the Senator's were meeting had gotten the worst fire damage. The walls and ceilings were already falling because of the heat and flames.

All but two of the Senator's registered to attend the conference that day ha made it out. One of the one's who hadn't was Gabby's cousin Stella. While all available fire fighters searched the building fir them Kelly and Matt each had different reactions to the news.

Kelly had enjoyed his time with Stella and found her intriguing. She was incredibly good looking but she didn't act like she used it to get what she wanted at all. Instead she used her brains and wit to get things done. After what Matt had said about her having some struggles he did more research and found out she was a huge crusader for woman's rights and for ending poverty. Her staff included only woman, and she issued ten scholarships a year for underprivileged youth.

"Lieutenant there's two people in the room ahead of you. One's stuck under a TV, pretty badly hurt. Woman appears to be okay, just some cuts." Cruz said through his radio as he ran into the room. He knew it would take at least two people to move the TV off the man.

"Alright!" Severide jogged over to where Cruz was, "Ambulance 61 be advised we have two more casualties."

"Copy," Brett replied.

Even through the smoke and the fire Severide could clearly see that Stella was the woman in trouble. She was just barely conscious trying to pay attention to what was going on.

"Stella… Senator Dawson," Severide corrected himself as he rushed over to her, "What happened?" He looked at the man beside her who had a TV on top of his legs.

"TV fell on him…. Didn't want to go," Stella gasped out as she struggled for breath.

"The TV hit Senator Dawson in the head Sir," The young man spoke up, "I tried to tell het to leave but she wouldn't. "I'm an intern for Senator McRyan. Mu name's Liam."

"Well Liam we're going to try to move this off of you alright," Kelly explained as he and Cruz got into position to try and move the large item.

"Alright," He nodded and Severide and Cruz lifted the TV up and then over. Liam's legs were badly crushed and he'd probably loose the use of them. Carefully lifting Liam up Cruz ran out of the building.

Kelly looked at Stella who was now semi awake, he lifted her up and held her in his arms. Her head fell onto his shoulder and he felt something he'd never felt before. He ran out of the building and straight to a waiting ambulance.

"I'm going with you!" He announced to the paramedics, "She's uh…. A friend," He knew he could have lied better but with media around he didn't want to say to much. He had a feeling they'd already be spinning some kind of story thanks to the gala.

"Severide!" Chief Boden called him back just as he was climbing into the ambulance, "We still need you here! You can go to the hospital later!"

Severide turned around and watched the ambulance drive off. The building was clear and now all that needed to be done was get the fire out. Squad never dud that anyways. He wanted to say something but knew that he really wasn't allowed to leave the scene with an ambulance anyway. And since when did he care so much about Stella anyways?

* * *

 **The Next Day**

Gabby shut the lid on her laptop and put it on the table as she stood up. After talking to her father and to Secret Service agents she had finally been able to book a trip for her and Matt to Europe. Everyone knew about her ex-boyfriend now that the FBI's investigation was in full swing, and with the Special People Magazine issue on her family coming out in two weeks Gabby wanted to get away. She knew Matt had a week of vacation time so she booked for them to go to Amsterdam. Two Secret Service agents were going to go with them and she booked a private tour guide from a well-known company. Since she couldn't go to to many places without it being to dangerous the tour guide could help pick the best times and even shut places down while she gave them private tours.

"Hey Babe!" Matt walked through the front door; putting his construction tools by the front door he walked over and gave her a kiss. "Have you had lunch yet because I was going to make a sandwich." He walked to the kitchen.

"No. I was just about to make something," Gabby followed him, "So was Antonio able to get a hold of you. I gave him your cell number. He wouldn't tell me what he was calling about," Gabby looked at her boyfriend a little bit suspicious. She didn't want her family to go to any great lengths to make her feel better and she wasn't sure she liked Antonio and Matt having secret talks.

"Yeah, I called him back on my way home. He's trying to get Illinois to fund new fire safety equipment and other things for first responders. H was wondering if I could go to D.C. next week and talk to some people about it. He and Stella are holding some meetings. He was going to ask me before but it's been so busy. Luckily I'm not working so I'm going to go Thursday to Saturday. You can come if you want."

Gabby was glad Antonio trusted Matt enough to help him with this bill proposal. Helping first responders was something Antonio had always been passionate about and he wanted to implement tools that woukd help them. Sine he had first hand experience in the field most of his ideas had been very well received. Although there ere some that would cost more money then others. Those were the ones he was having a hard time getting approved funding for.

"No it's alright," She sat down at the counter, "I know its last minute but I feel like I need to get away from everything so I booked us a vacation to Amsterdam in two weeks. I know you have a week's vacation to use and I've always wanted to go to go there."

"No, no its alright," Matt understood why she'd want to get away, it had been a tough few months for her. He could see she was still struggling and wanted to find ways to help her. Going to Europe might actually help him with a few things he was planning on doing while he was in D.C. "I can get the time off. You ever think about moving back to D.C?"

"Yeah," Gabby nodded her head; "I've gotten offers from hospitals there; and my family's there too. But I don't want to ask you to leave Chicago; as much as it's been awful for me you love it here. All of your friends re here and you have a great job."

"I'd move in a heartbeat," Matt assured her wondering if looking at house was something else he could do while he was in D.C. He had already talked to Laura and asked for her help. He was sure she'd help him look at houses too. He made a reminder for himself to ask Gabby's Secret Service Agents for advice on what would make the safest house for her.

"I know, but for now I'm good here. I go back to work tomorrow. I feel guilty having to take so much time off. They've been great though, really understanding."

"That's good," Matt leaned over the counter and kissed her as he handed her a ham and cheese sandwich.

* * *

"I'm not interrupting am I?" Kelly asked as he leaned agansit the door. Stella was sitting up in bed talking to, who Kelly presumed to be one of her staff.

"Kelly," Stella turned to look at him with a smile, "You hear they're finally letting me out of here."

"Yeah you causes to much trouble for them," He laughed as he walked into the room, "I'm…uh glad you're alright," He said as he scratched the back of his ear. Stella had been admitted overnight for observation but appeared to have come out of the while ordeal all right. Which considering how bad it could have been was a relief.

"Yeah," Stella looked at her Chief of Staff and the younger woman exited the room closing the door on her way. "Thanks again for saving me."

"Gabby woukd have killed me if I had let you die."

"Yeah," Stella chuckled, "So uh Antonio and I are trying to get funding for new equipment for fire fighters in the state and we're having some meetings next week. They're in D.C. but maybe you could come and try and help us out. Matt's going too," She added trying to make it sound more appealing to him.

Kelly shrugged her shoulders trying to act like he didn't care, "Sure. Maybe I can see Maddie again too."

"Yeah sure," Stella nodded her head, "That woukd be great." She knew that her parents woukd want to meet him too but didn't want to tell him that. They weren't; even officially dating and that would terrify him and make him run. If her parents insisted on meeting him him she'd at least invite Matt and Antonio and Laura along to make it less intimating for him.

"I heard Liam's going to have to be in a wheelchair," Kelly, who was feeling a bit uncomfortable, brought up the man who has been rescued with her.

"Yeah, the couldn't save them, they were to badly damaged," Stella confirmed, "But he's very much grateful for what you did for him. You should go and visit him. He's in room 408 upstairs."

"No, no I don't want to intrude," Kelly couldn't imagine how much the man's family was till trying to deal with everything that had happened."

"He asked to speak to the fire fighters who saved him," She told him, "I went to see him yesterday."

"Alright," Severide nodded his head and turned to go; looking back at her he walked back over to her and kissed her. It took her a few minutes but he kissed him back. Once they needed to breath Kelly stepped away from her and walked out of the room, stopping outside of the door he said, "See you in D.C."

"Yeah," Stella confirmed. Although she was still trying to gain control of her breathing she didn't want Kelly to see that.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** So what is Laura going to help Matt with in D.C?


	21. In DC

**A\N:** Wow! I know it's been a few month since I've updated. I was really busy at first, then I had writers block. After that, I had a really severe personal problem that I'm still trying to deal with. This chapter wouldn't be possible without the amazing help of my friend from Twitter who was an amazing support system and even help me write this chapter. I'd also like to thank all of my friends on Twitter who have been an amazing support system for me over these past few weeks. You'll never know how much what you're doing means to me.

 **Spoilers:** I don't own anything.

 **Warnings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

Matt sat nervously in the Oval Office. He'd made an appointment to meet with Gabby's father, but as he'd expected he'd been kept waiting. It had now been almost half an hour and he was getting to nervous just sitting on the couch waiting, Standing up he looked around the room at all of the pictures on display and smiled. You could clearly tell by the pictures in the room that the President very much values his family.

Taking one lap around the office Matt sat down on the couch again and tried to focus on the history in this room. Decisions affecting the entire, world and decisions that were in history books were made in this office. If these walls could talk they'd have some amazing stories to tell.

"Matt," Eduardo Dawson stepped into his office and closed the door, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long. But barring a world crisis we have an hour to talk before I have a meeting. What's on your mind?" He asked as he moved to sit opposite Matt on the other couch, "I'm so pleased you were able to come and help out Antonio and your friend as well."

"I didn't mind waiting Sir," Matt said first, "Working with Antonio had been great and my friend Kelly has been enjoying it as well. Antonio is in meetings now for a few hours so…" Matt tried to calm down his nerves a little, "I have a question that I want to ask you." He took a deep breath, "I'd like to ask Gabby to marry me. But I know how important her family is to her so I wanted to ask first for your blessing."

"Son," Eduardo sat on the couch opposite from him, he didn't want to give away his answer by smiling so he tried to be as serious as he could. "I love my daughter, after everything that has happened recently I can't think of something better for her." He smiled and stood up walking the few steps to the other couch to shake Matt's hand, "There's one condition though, you need to call me Eduardo now that we're going to be family."

"I'll try," Matt still couldn't believe what had happened, "I was going to ask her to marry me when we're in Europe.

"I think that's a great idea," Eduardo smiled.

* * *

Kelly and Matt stepped into Stella's office to see her and Antonio already working on something. They'd been in sessions and meetings all day and it was now almost three o'clock. Matt and Kelly had both spoken before two of those committee's and then went out to do a bit of relaxing and sight seeing.

"I'm never going to make another joke about a politician," Kelly tried to bring some humour into the room. "I'm guessing you two won't be able to get away for dinner?" He asked.

"No," Stella shook her head, she looked a bit disappointed, "I think I'm just going to go home and work a bit there. Maddie hasn't seen me in about a week," She ran a hand over her head. "You okay if I take off Tonio?" She turned to her cousin and asked.

"Of course," Antonio nodded his head. He knew how much Stella tried to be as supportive for Maddie as she could. Unfortunately over the last two years, with the nature of her job as a Senator it had become harder and harder. Antonio sometimes wondered why Stella has chosen to run knowing it would cause he to be away from her daughter. Although seeing Stella in action made him realise she was a born politician.

One thing that had been suffering for a long time however was Stella's romantic life. This wasn't something Antonio usually liked to get in the way of but he knew how much Stella liked Kelly. If what Gabby had to say was anything to go by Kelly was a good stand up guy.

"Why doesn't Kelly go by your place and see Maddie?" Antonio suggested. He saw, even though Stella was packing up her briefcase she was trying to hide her blush. It was a good thing they weren't alone, as she'd probably have some words to say as well. Antonio took confidence in what he was sating so he continued, "Didn't you mention she wanted to see him again?"

"Uh…" Stella nodded her head, not able to get any other words out. "Yeah she did. But I'm sure Kelly doesn't want to spend an hour in the car with me."

There was nothing to Kelly would rather do. Well actually there were a few things but he figured, or hoped those would come later. Right now he needed to come up with an answer that didn't seem like he was too desperate. "Yeah sure, I could go for a home cooked meal." Kelly shrugged his shoulders. "What were you going to make?"

"I'm not sure yet," Stella responded.

* * *

"Mom!" Maddie shook her head and sighed heavily, "This isn't fair and you know it! If you weren't going to show up in the first place then why did you even confirm?"

Stella tried to tell herself Maddie was just overly upset. She'd just had to cancel speaking at career day at her school, something she was looking forward to. However there was an emergency meeting on a bill and she needed to cancel. As expected Maddie was taking this hard, and on the night where Kelly Severide was coming for dinner she didn't need to be having an argument with her daughter. Kelly was going to be there for any minunte and she didn't want to be in the middle of an argument with her thirteen-year-old daughter. Kelly was different than any man she'd ever met, he was kind and funny and didn't appear to want to take advantage of her in any way. More importantly he seemed completely fine and unthreatened by her career.

"Tio Antonio had to cancel too, you know that."

"Yeah but Eva has her grandfather coming!" Maddie reminded her as she slammed her laptop shut, "And he's the President! So that doesn't count at all! She's already Ms. Popular and-"

"Maddie," Stella sighed as she ran a hand over her face. She couldn't keep track of the on again off again friendship between her daughter and niece. The two girls were usually inseparable best friends and joined at the hip. However they were very different, there different, And lately here differences only seemed to be pushing them further and further apart. "Go upstairs and do your homework. We'll talk later."

Maddie was about to argue when the doorbell rang and she went to answer it. She knew it would be Kelly Severide. "Hi," She grinned as she opened the door, "Hi Kelly,"

"Hey Maddie," Kelly greeted the young teen, "Your mom here?" He wondered.

"Uh she's just in the kitchen," Maddie stepped aside letting him come in, "Is that wine? I love wine," She informed him. She wanted to see if she'd get any kind of response,

"You're too young to drink," Kelly simply stated as he walked into the kitchen. "Hi Stella," He looked at her, even in jeans and a t-shirt she looked beautiful. "I bought some wine. I hope that's okay."

Stella turned around. She was still trying to get dinner ready and a part of her wished Kelly had come a little later. "Of course," She took the wine bottle.

"Thanks for the invitation," Kelly leaned against the counter as he watched her finish. "Thanks for the invitation by the way," He smiled as he looked around the kitchen. So far Stella's townhouse wasn't anything like he'd pictured and he was surprised to found she didn't live in a big house. "Anything I can do to help?" He wondered.

"You can go and get me some cigarette's," Maddie spoke up from the kitchen table.

"Madeline!" Stella's head snapped around. She narrowed her eyes in anger and glared at her twelve year old, "I swear if I ever so much as suspect you of smoking I will send you to boarding school." She threatened

"Ooh I'm so scared," Maddie rolled her eyes. She knew her mother would never do it; she'd been threatening her with that since she was eight years old.

"I didn't know they still had boarding school." Kelly spoke up trying to break some of the tension in the room.

"Mom went to an all girls school when she was a teenager," Maddie spoke, "She was more wild then I was. Now she has fun being a bully and-"

"Dinner's ready," Stella interrupted her daughter, "You can eat here an be nice Maddie or you can go upstairs."

"Stay here," Kelly spoke up. If he and Stella were going to be spending more time together he knew he needed to get to know her daughter. That wasn't too hard considering Maddie reminded him of that kind of teenager he was. ''Did you have school today?'' Kelly asked Maddie and she nodded.

''Yes, I had a long day today.'' Maddie said softly, not really wanting to elaborate much more. She was still upset about her mom not being able to go to career day.

''Dinner is great.'' Kelly complimented Stella. She had made pasta with creamy sauce and shrimp, and it was really good. It was a lot better than he was able to make.

''Thanks, Maddie saw the recipe on Facebook, glad she shared it with me…and glad you like it too.'' Stella smiled at her daughter.

'Good job you.'' Kelly complimented Maddie and finally the girl seemed to warm up a bit. She smiled and ate some more of the pasta. After she finished she stood up "Mom can I be excused?"

"Are you going to do your homework or text your friends?" Stella asked her daughter.

"Not that its any of-" She could see the looks on both her mother and Kelly's faces, "I'll do my homework." She stood up from the table. She put her dish away in the sink and then went up to her bedroom.

''Want to open that bottle of wine soon?'' Stella offered.'

"That sounds good…pinot Grigio, heard it was Maddie's favourite.'' Kelly joked as he helped her clear the table.

''Oh she told you that too.'' Stella rolled her eyes. ''I hope she didn't give you the wrong impression; she is a great young girl. Just, the age is not easy on anybody. And her and her cousin Eva used to be best friends but they're having some problems lately."

"I know, don't worry. I went through a really rebellious phase as a teenager, although if you got sent to boarding school apparently you were worse."

"Yeah," Stella wasn't sure she wanted to talk about her experiences at boarding school, or what led her parents to send her away. "Do you think we could talk about something else?"

"Yeah sure," Kelly got out the wine and poured them each a glass. Stella began to tell her about how she had to cancel the carer day plans with Maddie. She felt awful as she hardly ever got to participate in any school events.

''You know what, I brought Maddie a gift, is it okay if I bring it to her?''

''Of course, thanks Kelly, you are the best.'' Stella smiled as Kelly got up. He walked up the stairs, hearing music from one of the rooms. He walked into the room and saw Maddie sitting a desk. She had her textbook opened and her computer opened but she was on her phone as well as tablet. "This doesn't seem like studying," He stepped into the open room.

Maddie looked up and eyed him. She knew she should have closed her door. "This is how I study alright!" She replied angrily, "I'm talking to friends in the same classes as me and-"

"I'm not here to argue," Kelly held up his hands in surrender, "I just wanted to give you this," He handed over a copy of a popular teen fashion magazine, "I know its not wine or cigarettes but at least its something," He added smiling as Maddie chuckled a little.

"Thanks," Maddie placed the magazine on her desk.

''You know, your mom told me that she could not make it to career day…I just wanted to offer that if you need somebody short term…I would love to come speak at your school…I know I can't replace your mother, but my dad never showed up at mine, and I know how it feels to have nobody there, even though it is not your mom's fault.''

''I know, thank you, I would love that.'' Maddie said with a smile. "I'll get my mom to text you the details.

''Glad I can help, alright I will go back to your mom, let us know if you need anything or you want to join us for a board game.''

"I'll be down after I finish my math homework."

"Alright," Kelly wasn't sure if Maddie was being honest or it she was just being polite. He turned and left her room and walked back downstairs.

Telling her friends she needed to go Maddie turned down the music and got to work. She'd secretly always wanted a normal family life like the one Eva had. She was looking forward to the rest of the evening and she hoped her mother and Kelly stated dating.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** I hope you liked it. Please review.

 **Up Next:** Matt and Gabby head to London, England.


	22. London

**A\N:** So here it is the next chapter of the story. After this one there's only going to be 6-8 chapters left so we're winding things down. This chapter is dedicated to my friend on Twitter she wrote the last part for me. She's also going to help me out with the other European chapters.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warnings:**

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

Matt awoke to the sunlight still feeling a bit groggy. He and Gabby and arrived in London England only a few hours ago but he was still feeling a bit jetlagged. Sitting up he figured that he might as well get up and do something. So he got up had a quick shower and put on a fresh pair of clothes.

Walking into the main part of the suite Matt wasn't surprised to see Gabby sitting out on the balcony with the TV on in the background. He walked out to join her but Gabby saw him and shook her head. She got up and walked back into the living area.

"The British paparazzi have been camped outside the hotel for a few hours, they're nasty and they'd do anything for pictures, especially private ones. I figured out sitting on the left side of the balcony that its somewhat protected with trees and right now the sunlight. That being said I'm not allowed out until the paparazzi down a bit. With everything happening with Alex and the people magazine article the price for my picture is high right now."

Matt let out a disgusted huff as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. "I'm sorry Babe, I know how much you love England."

"My other two Secret Service agents are arriving tonight. So tomorrow hopefully with four guards I'll be able to be outside. That's when our private tour guide starts. I don't want to be stuck inside the entire trip. London is going to be the worst but Paris will be bad as well."

"How about I go out and see how everything is?" Matt suggested. "I'm sure they don't care about my picture as much, and if they do I don't care. I feel like going for a walk anyways,"

"I don't know," Gabby shook her head as she went to get her phone, "Remember the White House had to release the information your mother is in jail before the People issue ran. I better check with Agent Ford," She began texting her Lead Secret Service Agent. Four minus later he knocked on the door.

"Mr. Casey," He got straight to the point as Gabby let him in, "I don't advise you go outside yet. The paparazzi are stull outside in numbers and seeing you many only increase their interest. Remember they know what you look like now," He pointed out, "However you don't need to listen to my advise and if you insist on going out I'll have Agent Thomas go with you in normal clothes just in case."

Matt knew it wouldn't be a good idea to argue with a very highly trained secret service guard. Especially one that was only trying to keep both him and Gabby save. "Alright it's a deal."

An hour later Matt and Agent Thomas walked out of the hotel both wearing sunglasses and talking. Matt tried his best not to look at the media as they past and they managed to get past the hotel without much of an incident. It wasn't until Matt entered a store and took his sunglasses off there was a problem. Before Matt knew what was happening people were taking pictures of him and even asking questions. He was lucky Agent Thomas knew how to guide him out of the store and go into a deserted alleyway to avoid any more problems,

"Wow," Matt let out a breath as he put the sunglasses back on, "I'm never taking these off again. I'm guessing I have to go back to the hotel now?" He still had something he needed to do. However he understood now more then ever that him being out was a safety risk, especially now that his pictures were probably spreading around online, The more people who knew he was around the worse it became.

"It would be best Sir," Agent Thomas advised.

Matt was going to say something they stopped. He thought of something he'd never thought of before. "What if I disguise my voice and wear the sunglasses? I can speak in an Australian accent. Would that throw people off?"

Agent Thomas scrunched up his face and looked at him. He'd hardly ever heard anybody offer to change their voice to get away from pictures. "I guess. Can I ask where you want to go. It might make this easier."

Matt nodded, "My plan is to propose to Gabby on this trip. I have her father's permission and her mother's engagement ring. I wanted to talk to our private tour guide Esmee. Her company's main office is here in London and I want to see if she had any suggestions and could look after the arrangements. My idea was on the Eiffel Tower but I'm not sure that would be allowed.

Agent Thomas smiled and grinned. He liked Matt and most of the people he knew at the White House did as well. He was glad Matt and Gabby would likely be getting married although was already dreading the security nightmare their wedding would be.

"Okay, lets go back to hotel and order a car."

* * *

"First of all don't worry Mr. Casey I won' tell anyone about this. Second of all I love weddings and proposals so I'd love to help you out with this. The Eiffel Tower would normally be tricky but considering who you are I think I'd be able to make some calls. However there are a few places in Edinburgh and Amsterdam that would work as well. I'm from Amsterdam so I have lots of contacts both there and in Amsterdam and since I'm going to be joining you and Ms. Dawson to all the cities you're going to on this trip I can make almost anything happen. So, lets start talking." Esmee looked at Matt from behind her desk..

''Well, I would love to do it at the Eiffel tower, but I do understand that might be difficult. Do you have any other ideas?'' Matt asked. If it did not work out, or there was too much paparazzi, it would be nice to have something as a back up plan.

''There is a bridge in Amsterdam that you will pass under during the canal tour I arranged for you both and they say that when two lovers kiss under the bridge, their love will last forever.'' Esmee explained as she grabbed one of flyers behind her, pointing the bridge out on one of the photos.

''That looks amazing.'' Matt admitted, looking at the traditional wooden bridge that was lit up with hundreds of light bulbs.

''You could ask her right before the bridge and seal it with a kiss. I won't be with you on the boat since it obviously should a bit more of a private romantic tour, but I will make sure the captain will signal you – it's a wine and canapé tour – I think it could work well.'' Esmee explained.

''I really like that – do you think there would be a lot of paparazzi there?'' Matt asked a bit concerned.

''No, since you two are staying in the Amstel hotel and you embark and disembark the boat from the hotel, so no paparazzi can be waiting for you there. If you like I will arrange something nice for you for when you get back to the hotel, to celebrate.'' Esmee offered.

''That sounds great, now I still gotta hope she says yes.'' Matt joked.

''I don't doubt she will.'' Esmee assured him. Together they went over the rest of the plans for the holiday. They would spend two more days in London, followed by a weekend in Edinburgh after which they would fly to Amsterdam for another few days. The trip would be concluded by 3 days in Paris.

''How about I email you tomorrow about what I have been able to arrange? I will call the Eiffel tower and if I can't work it out I will call the company that does the boat tour and the hotel.''

''Thanks, you have been really helpful!'' Matt shook her hand and got up then.

''Mr. Casey?'' Esmee asked as she had started typing on her computer already.

''Yeah-'' Mat turned around.

''You might want to use the back entrance to exit. It's down the stairs to the left.'' Esmee said with a smile.

''Thanks.'' Matt smiled, hoping it would help him get away from the papparazzi a little bit. Butterflies were already fluttering in his stomach, thinking about asking Gabby to marry him. He couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with her.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A\N:** Up next Matt and Gabby go to Edinburgh.


	23. Amsterdam

**A\N:** Even though I have more ideas for this story this will be the last chapter. It seems like a good ending for me and the there would only be two more chapters after this one anyways. This chapter was mostly written by my amazing best friend and virtual sister. I love you so much!

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

They had arrived in Amsterdam last night and gone to the hotel straight away. They were staying in the Amstel hotel at the river Amstel and had a dinner in the restaurant the night they arrived. It had two Michelin stars. Matt was not used to this luxury and he was a bit surprised by some of the food, he really enjoyed it.

They were just staying in one of the smaller rooms, but it was perfect for them. They wouldn't be there that much anyway and wanted to do things in the city.

Early the next morning they made their way to the Anne Frank House. As one of the top attractions of Amsterdam, it could not just be shut down for a private visit. Besides that, it was also a place where they thought they would not be bothered to much. People seemed to care less here and especially the locals barely recognized them. One person at the airport had, but hadn't bothered them at all.

There was still a security officer following them, but he kept his distance. It made Gabby feel like she could finally have a proper holiday away with Matt without feeling she was under constant supervision.

They were let in and she held Matt's hand as they walked around. Even though she had read the book, she had no idea what to expect from it. They made their way through the exhibit and then to the actual part of to the annex. She was clutching his hand, so impressed by what they were seeing. Even Matt had no idea what to say.

''It is really small.'' Matt finally managed to say.

''Yeah.'' Gabby just nodded. She couldn't imagine having to live here for years and live in fear every day.

They arrived at the end of the tour and saw the guest book.

"Come on, we will sign it.''

Walking outside, neither of them knew what to say. It had been so impressive, and they sat down in a small bar just across the canal. Neither of them knew what to say as they drank their coffee. Both of them needed a moment to process what they had seen.

Finally, after some Dutch apple pie, they made their way outside again. Walking by the canal side, they popped into some of the small shops and Gabby bought some cheese to take home.

The weather was not great and Esme had told them that it was average Dutch weather. It wasn't hot or cold, sunny or rainy but all right for most of the day.

After spending the day exploring the city Matt and Gaby went to a fancy restaurant for dinner. After that they went back to their penthouse suite for the evening. Matt had gone out to the private balcony to look at the pool. Gabby taking this opportunity to go and change her clothes. She returned a few minutes later and walked up behind her.

"This is nice. Private pool, secluded."

"Yeah-" Matt turned around to face her and then his voice caught in his throat. Gabby was wearing a very skimpy bikini and nothing else. "Wow!"

Gabby grinned, "I'm glad you like it."

"Like is one way of putting it." He leaned in to kiss her but she smirked and dove into the deep water of the pool.

"You want to kiss me Matt? Come swimming," She teased.

"I think I can do that," Matt took off his t-shirt and jumped into the water. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. He pulled her into him and then lifted her up, "You know this has been something I've always wanted to do," He whispered into her ear.

For the rest of the night Gabby and Matt made love. For the next day they stayed mainly in the hotel as well. The next day they went to see the soccer stadium and it some pictures and souvenirs for Diego.

That night Matt told Gabby he had a special surprise for her and would only tell her what she needed to wear. As she got changed Matt took the ring box and tucked it into his suit pocket. He took a deep breath and tried to stay ad calm as he could. He and Gabby loved each other and he knew that she would most likely say yes. He honestly couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with Gabby.

"How's this?" Gabby stepped out of the bathroom wearing a black cocktail dress that fell to just under her knees. She had curled her hair and as well.

"Beautiful as always," Matt walked up to her and kissed her on the lips.

Getting into the boat, Matt held is hand out to her and helped her in. The boat was small, with benches on either side and a small table in the middle. He held her hand as they sat down. The table was set for the both of them for the cheese and wine tasting and there were plenty of candles around the boat.

The captain sat down and started the boat.

''I uhm, I am a bit nervous I have to admit. I don't really get important people like you on my boat usually.'' He admitted with a slight Dutch accent.

''I am very excited for the tour!'' Gabby said and Matt nodded as well.

As the boat started making it's way over the canal, the captain pointed out some things. It was nice they had a private tour since they could easily ask things and he was very knowledgeable. Stopping by a small restaurant at the water side, he came back with a plateau of cheese.

Explaining about all of them, he let them enjoy it the cheese while going through the old part of Amsterdam, through the canals and under the bridges.

''This one is great.'' Gabby pointed at the old Amsterdam cheese. In the distance,

Matt could see the lights of the bridge. As they approached the bridge, Matt was feeling a bit nervous. He had the ring in his hand under the table and looked up at the captain.

''So this is de magere brug, or skinny bridge. It's lit up with 1800 lights. They say when she you kiss your loved one under the bridge your love will last forever.''

Matt took a deep breath. "Gabby, you've gone through so much in lifr and yet you're the most kind hearted, beautiful woman I've ever met. Will you marry me?" He asked as he got down on one knee.

Gaby stared at him for a few seconds as tears came down her face. She loved Matt more then she had ever loved anyone else. Finding that she wasn't able to talk she nodded her head. "Ye-yes," She managed to get out.

Matt got up and wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. "I love you," He slipped the ring onto her finger.

"I love you too."

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A\N:** So, what did you think. Please review.

 **Sneak peek:** Stay tuned for my upcoming Dawsey story. If you want to know more DM me on here or on Twitter.


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